What You Should Know About the Flu Season

You’ve heard the reports this week on the radio about how much worse the flu season was last fall and winter, after cases of the flu were way down in the years just before that.

Of course that was during the first couple of years of the pandemic when there were masks and social distancing and the washing of hands.

A year ago, the 2024-25 U.S. flu season saw the highest hospitalization and pediatric death rates since the 2010-11 season with nearly 40,000 flu-associated hospitalizations and 267 pediatric deaths.

But with fewer people getting vaccinated for the flu, doctors and an county public health officials are saying this fall and winter of 2025-26 could be a bad one for the flu.

When a nationwide survey finds that only two in five U.S. adults say they will definitely get a flu shot. we should be prepared for lots of people with the flu in the coming months.

Is the flu vaccine guaranteed to keep you from getting the flu? No.

Do some people have side effects from the shot? Yes.

Is the flu vaccine for everybody? Maybe not.

Doctors say the vaccine will likely keep you from having to be hospitalized for the flu. But when it comes to the flu, it’s up to you.

(Photo Getty Images)