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You may be able to avoid getting the flu with the right knowledge.

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Don't Catch the Flu Quiz

Do you know how to stay well this flu season?

Christina Ianzito,

Updated May 06, 2021

AARP

Published September 26, 2012

/ Updated May 06, 2021

10 Questions

97ec8cda-8ef0-43d2-84cd-81c0a40f4800

Don't Catch the Flu Quiz

[ {
 "question" : "When should people get the flu vaccine?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "As soon as the vaccine is available",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Mid-September through October",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Just as the severity of the outbreak is peaking, so the strength of the vaccine doesn’t wear off too soon",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "October is ideal because it’s early enough that your body has time to build up immunity before the flu season hits and late enough to make sure your immunity doesn’t wear off before the flu season ends in April.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "What type of flu shot is recommended for adults 65 and older?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Nasal-spray flu vaccine",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Recombinant flu vaccine",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "High-dose or adjuvanted flu vaccine",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Research shows that the high-dose flu vaccine (Fluzone) and the adjuvanted flu vaccine (Fluad) are more effective in older adults than the regular flu vaccine.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Who can get the nasal spray flu vaccine?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Healthy people over 6 months",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Healthy people between 2 and 49 years old",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Anyone between 6 months and 64 years old",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "At this time, the nasal spray vaccine has only been approved for healthy people between the ages of 2 and 49.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "What is the vaccination advice for people who have already had the flu this season?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "It doesn't matter, they still need to get the vaccine.",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "They don't need the vaccine",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "They need an even higher dose of the vaccine because they seem to be exceptionally prone to catching the virus.",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "They should get vaccinated because there are different strains of flu virus, and someone can easily catch two different viruses within one season.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "What is in the flu shot?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "A small amount of live virus",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "A small amount of dead virus",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "A small amount of antibodies taken from an infected person, then cultivated in a lab",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "The flu shot contains inactive (dead) virus. The nasal spray has a small amount of live virus, but it's been weakened so it doesn't cause the flu.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "What are the two main types of flu viruses that cause seasonal epidemics in the United States each year?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Influenza B and C",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Influenza A and B",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Influenza A and H1N1",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Influenza A, which includes different sub-types such as the H1N1, and influenza B are the viruses that are most commonly spread among humans.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Why do experts believe that the 2020–21 flu season, which took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, was mild?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "The coronavirus neutralized the flu virus.",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : " COVID-19 precautions",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : " Twice as many Americans got the flu shot.",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Social distancing, mask wearing, stay-at-home orders and other precautions amid the COVID-19 pandemic slowed the spread of the flu virus in the 2020–21 season, according to John Hopkins Medicine.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "How easy is it to catch the flu virus from someone else?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "You can catch it from someone who sneezes from as far away as six feet.",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "You won't catch it unless you have intimate contact with a person or they sneeze into their hands and touch you, or something you touch.",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "You can catch it from someone who coughs from as far away as 18 feet.",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "The virus can be transmitted through droplets of bodily fluid, which can travel up to six feet when propelled by a sneeze.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "If they catch the flu, at what point are most healthy adults considered contagious?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Typically only the day they first notice symptoms, and the next 24 to 36 hours",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "The day before symptoms develop and for five to seven days after that",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Not until about three days after the first symptoms develop",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Unfortunately, infected people are contagious even before they may be aware that they have the virus.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "When was the largest American flu pandemic of the 20th century?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "1957",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "1918",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "1905",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "The 1918 flu pandemic caused nearly 675,000 deaths in the United States and an estimated 50 million worldwide. It helped spur research, however, and during World War II, scientists first tested a flu vaccine on American soldiers.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
} ]

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Don't Catch the Flu Quiz

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Christina Ianzito covers scams and fraud, and is the books editor for aarp.org and AARP The Magazine. Also a longtime travel writer and editor, she received a 2020 Lowell Thomas Award for travel writing from the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation.