You went to the doctor this flu season with flu-like symptoms, only to be sent home with your doctor telling you it's likely H1N1.  So should you still get the H1N1 vaccine to protect yourself from the virus anyway?

You had a cough, a fever, achy muscles but you were never tested for the H1N1 flu. So did you really have it?

“The problem is that many people get a mild illness. They don't necessarily have the severe fever, chills, muscle aches that are characteristics of influenza. So if you have a milder illness, well, did you have influenza or did you have some other cold? That's where it gets gray,” Avera Infectious Disease Dr. Aris Assimacopoulos said.

Health Officials say if you test positive for influenza A, it's almost certain you had H1N1. But if you never even saw a doctor, you need to get the vaccine.

“I think most people should unless they're sure they've had H1N1, meaning that they got tested for it and they know they had it,” Assimacopoulos said.

So why if you've actually had the virus can you avoid the needle stick?

“If you actually had the disease you should have immunity, which is as good or better than the vaccine. And basically the vaccine is a way of mimicking the infection without actually giving you the infection and you're supposed to build an immune response against it,” Assimacopoulos said.

And what about all those people that received what was known as the swine flu vaccine in 1976?

“You have about an 80 percent chance of being immune, having some immunity if you got that vaccine. But still that means 20 percent of the people may not have immunity.  Over time immunity wanes off," Assimacopoulos said.

And viruses can genetically change over time. If you tested positive for the H1N1 virus, you don't necessarily need the vaccine. But if you aren't sure of your immunity, doctors say it's best not to chance it.

If you think you or your child needs the H1N1 vaccine, there are plenty of vaccine clinics happening across the state for high risk groups this week. Visit the South Dakota Department of Health Web site for more information.