How dangerous is the flu?Symptoms and Signs of Complications You Should Know About

the United States Highest flu hospitalizations in 10 years, and there is no indication that the virus will peak or disappear in the coming weeks. With the busy holiday travel season approaching and the relatively low rate of flu vaccination among adults, millions of people are at potential risk of serious complications.

Most people who get the flu recover within a few days, but some develop life-threatening complications. is dead Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

About 120,000 people were hospitalized with the flu in the past two months, according to a CDC report. Nine of her 10 adults hospitalized with influenza had at least one of her underlying conditions.

most at risk Severe illness from influenza includes children under the age of 5, people over the age of 65, immunocompromised people, and pregnant women.

Dr. Peter Chinghong, a professor of medicine and infectious disease physician at the University of California, San Francisco, says people with flu complications most often go to the hospital because the virus develops into pneumonia.

Bacterial pneumonia can develop when the influenza virus spreads to the lower respiratory tract, leading to difficulty breathing and may require supplemental oxygen.

Warning signs of pneumonia

Although many of the symptoms of the flu, such as fever and body aches, overlap with pneumonia, there are some clues that a more serious lung infection may be occurring.

Warning signs of pneumonia are a cough with yellow or green sputum, increased fever, and chest pain when taking a deep breath or coughing.

Some people with pneumonia develop sepsis, a complication that can lead to organ failure and death, especially if not treated promptly.

Influenza pneumonia is not confined to the elderly, said Dr. Jonathan Grain, an infectious disease physician and director of hospital epidemiology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

“Unfortunately, very severe pneumonia can also occur in young, healthy people.”It can happen to anyone.”

Combining influenza and pneumonia 9th leading cause of death in the United StatesAccording to the CDC, it kills tens of thousands of people each year.

Flu virus may increase heart attack risk

Flu attacks are also associated with an increased risk of heart attack and in rare cases of inflammation of the brain and muscles.

“The flu can cause all these non-lung problems that people don’t normally think about,” Chin-Hong said.

2018 study We found that patients were six times more likely to experience heart attack the week after flu infection than at any point in the year prior to infection or in the year following infection.

Chin-Hong said he treated flu patients who developed encephalitis (a dangerous inflammation of the brain that can be caused by a viral infection) or myositis (causing painful muscle weakness).

Getting the flu can also exacerbate flare-ups of chronic conditions such as diabetes and asthma, Grain said.

“The flu triggers the body’s immune response to fight off the infection, but that response can be a little overwhelming,” he said. Or if you catch the flu, seeing a patient with underlying lung disease can make breathing more difficult.”

pregnant with flu

According to Carlos del Rio, M.D., an infectious disease expert and Executive Associate Dean of Emory University School of Medicine and Grady, one of the groups most at risk for flu complications is pregnant women. Atlanta Health System.

Even healthy women are more likely to develop severe influenza if their heart and lung function change during pregnancy. Nevertheless, many patients are not vaccinated during pregnancy.

Recent CDC Investigation It found that only half of pregnant women received the flu vaccine as recommended, putting many at risk of severe illness from the flu.

“The most serious complication is respiratory failure, but there are other complications, such as heart inflammation,” Del Rio said.

His biggest concern is respiratory failure that will require intubation in the intensive care unit.

And an intense flu infection can lead to a ‘long-term flu’. Similar to Covid, there are concerns that people infected with the flu could also have long-term effects. told NBC News in November After the flu, it’s not unheard of to experience symptoms, especially lingering fatigue and brain fog.

However, more research is needed to understand the extent of the problem.

Is it worth getting a flu shot?

No flu shot is perfect, but experts agree that getting vaccinated is the best way to prevent these complications.Complete protection takes about two weeks. You can still catch the flu after being vaccinated, but you are less likely to catch it. Critically ill for that extra protection.

While there is no data yet on the effectiveness of this year’s flu vaccine, it appears to “match very well” with the circulating strain, CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at a briefing last week.

Getting vaccinated is still important even after being diagnosed with the flu. Because it offers broader protection against different strains of the influenza virus. Experts say he could get the flu more than once in one season.

Current vaccines protect against four strains: 2 influenza A strains and 2 influenza B strains.

“It’s never too late to get a flu shot,” Chinhong said. “I don’t know when the flu season will end, but last year it had a very long tail into spring.”