Medical professionals remind Americans that the flu can also be deadly, and say it is especially important for those at risk of serious complications to be on guard against getting it. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that during the 2019-20 flu season as many as 740,000 Americans were hospitalized. The 2017-18 flu season was an extremely virulent strain and caused approximately 61,000 deaths.
This year doctors worry about an overlap of COVID-19 and the flu; and is why there is such a push to have all Americans get a flu shot. Those more at risk include adults over the age of 65. Dr. William Schaffner, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, explains that as we age our immune systems are not as robust. Add to that, about half of those people have another underlying health condition that puts them at risk.
Something like heart disease or a history of stroke increases a person’s risk for heart problems including a heart attack or another stroke during a case of the flu. Diabetics also are three times more likely to die from the flu; and lung conditions such as COPD or asthma can lead to pneumonia or other respiratory infections. Moreover, doctors caution those with weakened immune systems and cancer survivors as well as anyone with a body index greater than 40 are more at risk for serious complications from the flu. Talk to your healthcare provider about getting a yearly flu shot and a pneumonia vaccination.
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Source: aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2020/flu-risk-factors.html
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