Good news. This year's flue vaccine is working well and is able to combat the four dominant strains of flu virus that are circulating this year.
There have been high levels of flu activity as of the end of 2018 which is expected as we are in the height of flu season. 90% of the tested flu cases this year have been H1N1, commonly known as swine flu, which appeared as a pandemic in 2009. The great thing is that although it is the dominant strain this year, it is actually a milder strain than H3N2 and this year's flu vaccine is protective against both strains. H3N2 was the strain that has been dominant in years past and is much nastier than H1N1, so H1N1 becoming the dominant strain isn't all bad.
There are, of course, a few other strains that are circulating this year. When developing the year's flu vaccine, researches can only make an educated guess as to what strains will be circulating. Because the flu virus genome can mutate so quickly, it is nearly impossible to predict exactly which strains will show up in a given year, so having a vaccine that will protect against all circulating strains is unlikely. Regardless, the vaccine will protect against the nastiest strains of flu virus that we have seen in the past. Even if that strain doesn't have a significant presence in a given year, better safe than sorry!
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevensalzberg/2019/01/07/this-years-flu-vaccine-is-working-well-theres-still-time-to-get-it/#11ff83e31bed
- Renata Starbird
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