Influenza

Even in healthy children and adults, influenza (flu) is a contagious viral illness that can produce mild to severe symptoms and life-threatening complications, including death. Coughing or sneezing are the most common ways for influenza viruses to transfer from one person to another. Touching a contaminated surface and then touching the lips, eyes, or nose is a less common way for them to spread. Flu can be passed on to others even before symptoms appear and for a week or more after symptoms appear. While the figures vary, flu and related complications affect millions of people in the United States each year, resulting in hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and tens of thousands of deaths. Employers and businesses are also affected by the flu, which costs an estimated $11.2 billion in direct and indirect expenditures in the United States each year. Vaccination against the flu avoided around 7.5 million flu infections, 105,000 hospitalizations, and 6,300 deaths during the 2019-2020 flu season. The easiest approach to avoid getting the flu is to get vaccinated every year. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone over the age of six months get vaccinated at least once a year. This year, flu vaccination is especially crucial to safeguard patients and avoid putting further strain on the already overwhelmed US healthcare system. Early fall is the greatest time to get vaccinated, before influenza viruses proliferate throughout your neighbourhood. Vaccination is, however, still recommended throughout the flu season. Annually, flu vaccines are updated to protect against the influenza viruses that are most likely to spread throughout the upcoming season, according to studies.