Most people know the misery of being sick with the flu—perhaps you’ve already had it this season. Suddenly, you’re sick with a fever, body aches, and other flu symptoms. Could this be the flu again? It is possible—let’s explore why.

At Getwell Urgent Care in Southaven, Mississippi, we want to help you recognize the flu and other illnesses and know when to seek help. We offer convenient walk-in visits 7 days a week to ensure you get the care you need when you need it.

Let’s discuss flu symptoms, how it’s possible to get the flu again, and how to keep yourself and your family healthy during flu season.

Flu Symptoms

Common flu symptoms include:

Fever.
Chills.
Headache.
Coughing.
Muscle aches.
Fatigue.
Eye discomfort or watery eyes.

Children with the flu may be more likely than adults to experience stomach upset, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.

Can I Get the Flu Again?

In short, yes, you can get the flu a second time in the same flu season. It’s possible, for example, to recover from the flu in December and come down sick with the flu again in February. How can this happen? Understanding how the flu virus works is the key.

The influenza (flu) virus is not a distinct, uniform virus. As with some other viruses, there are many different strains of the flu virus, and multiple strains can be circulating during the same flu season.

Also, the viruses mutate over time, which enables them to evade your immune system’s defenses. They may even change in the course of a flu season.

To return to our hypothetical example, the upshot of all this is that you may have been sick with one strain of the flu in December, from which you recovered and built up antibodies (proteins produced by your immune system that help your body recognize and attack an invading virus or other pathogen). However, in February, you were exposed to a different strain of the flu. It evades your immune system (at least partially), infecting you again and resulting in flu symptoms.

Getting a flu shot can help prevent the flu or decrease the severity if you get sick. However, because the vaccine must be prepared before flu season, researchers must anticipate which strains will circulate to make the flu shot a match.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t always work out exactly right, so the efficacy of the flu shot may vary from year to year. This means that even if you’ve had the flu shot, it’s possible to be sick more than once with the flu in the same season—especially for people with suppressed immunity or other chronic health conditions like cancer, diabetes, or COPD.

Tips for Staying Healthy During Flu Season

How can you keep yourself and your family healthy during flu season? Here are some tips:

Consider getting a flu vaccine. This can help prevent the flu or lessen the severity if you do get it. Older adults and people with chronic health conditions may be more at risk of a severe case of the flu and complications.
Wash your hands. This may sound simple, but it’s a key part of staying healthy. The flu virus spreads on droplets produced by coughing or sneezing. Washing your hands can help keep you from getting infected. Handwashing is also important when you have the flu to avoid spreading it to others.
Don’t touch your face. This can keep the flu virus from getting into your nose, mouth, and eyes.
Cover your cough. If you’re sick with the flu, covering your cough with your sleeve can help control the spread of the virus.

Can I Visit Urgent Care for the Flu?

If you have the flu, don’t hesitate to visit urgent care, especially if you have:

A persistent fever.
An ongoing cough.
Shortness of breath.
Concerns about dehydration.

Urgent care can offer rapid and comprehensive flu treatment, including testing, medications to relieve symptoms, and even IV therapy to correct dehydration.

If you or your child have the following signs of serious illness, get help in an emergency room (ER) instead:

Severe difficulty breathing.
Cyanosis (bluish or gray-tinged lips or fingernails).
Dizziness.
Seizures.
Chest pain.

Flu Care at Getwell Urgent Care

For convenient, top-tier medical treatment, visit us at Getwell Urgent Care. We offer walk-in visits and shorter wait times, ensuring you and your family get the care you need for the flu and many other conditions.