Number of influenza deaths in the United States from 2010-2023

The burden of influenza in the United States can vary from year to year depending on which viruses are circulating, how many people receive an influenza vaccination, and how effective the vaccination is in that particular year. During the 2019-2020 flu season, around 25,000 people lost their lives to the disease. Although most people recover from influenza without needing medical care, the disease can be deadly among young children, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems or chronic illnesses. Deaths due to influenzaEven though most people recover from influenza without medical care, influenza and pneumonia can be deadly, especially for older people and those with certain preexisting conditions. Influenza is a common cause of pneumonia and although most cases of influenza do not develop into pneumonia, those that do are often more severe and more deadly. Deaths due to influenza are most common among the elderly, with a mortality rate of around 7.4 per 100,000 population during the 2021-2022 flu season. In comparison, the mortality rate for those aged 50 to 64 years was just 1.2 per 100,000 population.Flu vaccinationsThe most effective way to prevent influenza is to receive a yearly influenza vaccination. These vaccines have proven to be safe and are usually cheap and easily accessible. Nevertheless, every year a large share of the population in the United States still fails to get vaccinated against influenza. For example, in the 2021-2022 flu season only 37 percent of those aged 18 to 49 years received a flu vaccination. Unsurprisingly, children and the elderly are the most likely to get vaccinated. It is estimated that during the 2021-2022 flu season vaccinations prevented over 618 thousand influenza cases among children aged 6 months to 4 years.

美国流感负担逐年变化，其影响因素包括流行病毒的种类、接种流感疫苗的人数以及疫苗在该年度的防护效果。以2019-2020流感季节为例，约有25,000人因流感而丧生。尽管多数人在无需医疗护理的情况下即可康复，但流感对婴幼儿、老年人和免疫系统受损或患有慢性疾病的人群具有致命性。流感是肺炎的常见诱因，尽管大多数流感病例不会发展成肺炎，但那些演变为肺炎的病例往往更为严重且致命。流感导致的死亡在老年人中最为常见，在2021-2022流感季节，每10万人中死亡率约为7.4。相比之下，50至64岁年龄段的死亡率仅为每10万人1.2。流感疫苗接种预防流感最有效的方法是每年接种流感疫苗。这些疫苗已被证明安全有效，通常价格低廉且易于获取。然而，每年仍有大量美国民众未能接种流感疫苗。例如，在2021-2022流感季节，仅37%的18至49岁人群接种了流感疫苗。不出所料，儿童和老年人最有可能接种疫苗。据估计，在2021-2022流感季节，疫苗预防了6个月至4岁儿童超过618,000例流感病例。