Influenza
The flu is spread by contact with an infected person and by coughing and sneezing. In an average year, the flu causes 36,000 deaths and 148,000 hospitalizations in the United States.
Historically, complications from the flu occur in up to 25 percent of those who contract the disease and can include severe bacterial pneumonia, dehydration and worsening of chronic medical conditions such as congestive heart failure, asthma or diabetes. Inflammation of the heart (myocarditis) may also occur as a result of a flu infection.
While the majority of deaths resulting from flu occur in the elderly, rates of infection are highest among children and hospitalization rates among children zero-to-one year old are similar to those of the elderly.
