Every flu season, I think back to the young teacher I cared for as a nurse in the intensive care unit years ago.
He was just 28 years old, healthy, with no underlying conditions.
At first, he had a simple cough and runny nose — symptoms he likely picked up from a student.
But by the time he arrived at the hospital, he was on the verge of collapse, gasping for breath.
I can still hear the frantic beeps of the monitors as we rushed to stabilize him, trying to restore oxygen to his failing organs. Soon, he was on a ventilator, sedated and receiving multiple medications to keep his body functioning.
Despite our relentless efforts for weeks in the ICU, we couldn’t save him.
Sadly, his death may have been preventable — he had not received his flu shot.
I was 27 years old then, and I’d always considered the flu a manageable annoyance that could sideline you for a few days.
But since witnessing that teacher’s deathly struggle 15 years ago, I’ve made it a point to get my flu shot every year. I urge my family and friends to do the same.
I know that many people think of the flu as old news and dismiss it as a minor seasonal nuisance.
It’s easy to overlook how many people it can kill (the pandemic from 1957-58 claimed 1.1 million lives worldwide).
While not every flu strain is that deadly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that last season’s flu hit at least 34 million Americans, sent at least 380,000 to the hospital and may have killed as many as 100,000.
Older adults are especially vulnerable. During the 2022–23 flu season, adults aged 65 and older accounted for nearly 72% of all flu-related deaths.
Despite these dangers, flu vaccine coverage remains low. A survey by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases found that only 38% of adults were interested in getting the flu shot.
Many people mistakenly believe that only high-risk groups, like older adults, pregnant women, children under 5 and people with chronic conditions, need to worry about the flu.
