NYT Sore throat. Stuffy nose. Fever, body aches and fatigue. As temperatures drop, cases of the flu have started to rise.
For many people, the immune system can clear those symptoms in about a week. But for others, flu can lead to severe illness, hospitalization or even death. Flu infections cause up to 710,000 hospitalizations and 51,000 deaths every year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A new analysis by the C.D.C., which examined flu-related hospitalizations from 2010 to 2023, unpacks some of the factors that put people most at risk of severe health outcomes.