Doctors warn of new severe flu strain that could start showing up in North Texas
Doctors are warning about a new strain of the flu that could start showing up in North Texas.
It's called H3N1, and it can not only cause more severe illness in older adults, but it's also proving to be resistant to flu vaccines.
Karen Johnson still remembers that day in the classroom a few years ago when she started feeling what would become a severe case of the flu that she contracted while working as a teacher.
"Got it and I got it real bad," said Johnson. "You're achy for a long time. So I remember after, I thought I was over the flu, it took me a month to recover."
Since then, the 62-year-old in Glenn Heights has made an appointment every fall to get a flu shot, including one in October.
"People are like, 'I don't wanna get the flu shot,'" said Johnson. "You say you don't wanna get the flu shot until you get the flu, and then once you get the flu, you're begging for the flu shot."
But doctors say that the shot may not be as effective this year because of a new strain called H3N2 that's resistant to immunity.
"So it's easier for these viruses to actually escape the vaccine-induced immunity," said Dr. Jeffrey Kahn, the chief of infectious diseases at Children's Health. "So that's a concern that it may reduce the efficacy of the vaccine."
Kahn is also a professor at UT Southwestern. He has been studying the new virus that has been shown to cause more severe illness in older adults.
"Well, the question here would be: is it having more severe symptoms because it's evading the immunity that's induced by the vaccine, or is it just a more virulent virus?" Kahn said. "I think the truth is probably somewhere in between those two. This virus has been reported from a number of countries: the UK, Japan, Canada. So I think the jury's still out, but it's important to remember that the flu can cause pretty severe disease."
"I'm very worried," Johnson said. "I'm worried about the flu strain. I'm worried about a new COVID strain because of our age."
Johnson and her husband head into the holidays hoping their vaccines will keep them protected.
Doctors say even if the new strain, which has already appeared in 20 states, is resistant to vaccines, a flu shot is still the best preventive measure against an illness that kills up to 60,000 Americans each year.