How many healthy people die from the flu

The H1N1 flu virus killed U. It may have infected 61 million people. While a few people seem to die within hours or days, flu can cause lingering sickness in others.

Then they become susceptible to other infections, such as streptococcal or staphylococcal bacterial infections. These secondary infections can damage organs, cause pneumonia or get into the bloodstream, causing another kind of immune system overreaction called sepsis. So far this season, flu has killed 30 children, according to the latest CDC data. Last season, children died from influenza in the U. Every year, flu kills 12, to 56, people and sends as many as , to the hospital.

Related: H1N1 swine flu hit Americas especially hard in CDC estimates flu deaths by looking at how many more people than usual died of flu and pneumonia, but even those calculations miss people who may have died from flu complications, such as a heart attack set off by a bout of flu. S using a model that estimates the numbers of flu illnesses, medical visits and hospitalization prevented by vaccination.

The burden of flu disease in the United States can vary widely and is determined by a number of factors including the characteristics of circulating viruses, the timing of the season, how well the vaccine is working to protect against illness, and how many people got vaccinated. While the effects of flu varies, it places a substantial burden on the health of people in the United States each year.

CDC estimates that flu has resulted in 9 million — 41 million illnesses, , — , hospitalizations and 12, — 52, deaths annually between and To receive weekly email updates about Seasonal Flu, enter your email address:. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link.

Influenza Flu. Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Pair that with more people going out into public more often with lessening mask restrictions, and it could lead to a potentially more severe flu season than last year. The CDC recommends that everyone 6 months and older get a flu vaccine every year.

It's the first and most important step that people can take to guard against the flu and its complications. The flu can be harder to fight off for specific populations, such as infants and young children, the elderly, and people who are immunocompromised due to chronic illnesses such as HIV or cancer—so it's especially for those populations to get vaccinated, possibly with a high-dose flu shot , if approved by their doctor.

Those recommendations put in place for protection against COVID can also come in handy when preventing the flu virus. That may be as much a part of our major protection as major vaccines.

Conway suggests that people remain vigilant about staying home from work and school when they're ill. Proper handwashing and disinfecting surfaces can help keep illnesses at bay, as well.

To get our top stories delivered to your inbox, sign up for the Healthy Living newsletter. And like COVID, the flu can cause unpleasant symptoms, have lingering side effects, and even be deadly—but there have been shockingly few confirmed cases of influenza in the past few months.

Instead, the federal agency develops estimates based on rates of confirmed hospitalizations from the flu. Hicar says. Compared to the flu season, for example, the CDC estimated that more than 38 million became sick with influenza, leading to , hospitalizations and 22, deaths.

So far, about people have died from the flu this season, per the CDC. Flu cases are also way down: Just 1, positive cases have been identified in the United States between late September and early March.