SACRAMENTO, Calif. — There's a lot of speculation online regarding Influenza B. The 2022-23 flu shot is quadrivalent meaning it's made up of two strains of Influenza A and two strains of Influenza B.
According to a global database, there hasn't been a confirmed case of Influenza B since March 2020.
Influenza B does not have an animal reservoir, which means it does not live in animals, and with no reported cases in humans, there's a theory that it could go extinct and increase the flu shot's effectiveness. ABC10 Health Expert Dr. Payal Kohli said this is possible.
If Influenza B is really gone for good, scientists could create a bivalent vaccine that could make the flu shot more effective. She said this is the reason community reporting of flu cases is important. It helps scientists better target preventative measures.
"I think the reality of it is that we have seen Influenza B go dormant before. So, in the 90s we saw a similar thing where it doesn't go extinct, it just goes to sleep for a few years, so it's not circulating. Then in the early 2000s that actually woke up and you had Influenza B outbreaks, which were much worse because people obviously hadn't been really protected against Influenza B for many years. So, I think this type of surveillance will help us to continue to evolve and really sort of help improve the efficacy of the annual flu vaccine, but I think influenza vaccines tend to do this," Kohli said.
Kohli said she's not quite ready to take influenza B out of the vaccine yet.
Watch more on ABC10
