Who is affected by influenza
The severity of influenza varies widely from year to year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):1
- An average of approximately 142,000 hospitalizations have occurred each year in the United States since 1968 as a result of type-A flu epidemics.
- The number of cases of flu is highest during the winter months.
- Children have the highest rates of infection, but illness usually is mild in otherwise healthy children age 2 and older. However, more study is needed in determining and minimizing the risk of severe influenza-related complications in children.
- Deaths from the flu are highest in people older than 65 and people of any age who have serious medical conditions. More than 90% of flu-related deaths occur in older adults.
Because the flu virus is contagious, it spreads easily among people who live close together, such as in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. The numbers of people affected and the death rates can be high.
Children age 1 and younger are hospitalized for influenza-related illness at a rate that is comparable to that of adults age 65 and older.1
Flu and its complications caused an average of 36,000 deaths in the U.S. between 1990 and 1999.1
| Author: | Sydney Youngerman-Cole, RN, BSN, RNC | Last Updated: September 29, 2006 |
| Medical Review: | Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine W. David Colby IV, MSc, MD, FRCPC - Infectious Disease | |
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