Overview
Influenza, or the flu, is a respiratory disease. And it's nothing to sneeze at – especially for older adults.
That's because 70% of people ages 50 and older live with at least one chronic health condition, from diabetes and asthma to heart or lung disease – which greatly increases their risk for serious complications, or even death, from the flu. In fact, during the 2017-18 season, adults 65+, followed by Baby Boomers (adults 50-64), were hospitalized the most because of the flu.
Alarmingly, vaccination rates among these groups remained well below public health goals during the 2017-18 season (39.7%...