Influenza deaths in 2018: 80,000 Americans died of the flu last winter

Eighty thousand Americans died of the flu last season, according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This is more than the number of people killed in road collisions, armed violence or overdoses of opioids.

It's also been the most deadly flu season since 1976, when the agency began publishing annual influenza trends, said CDC director Robert Redfield at the Associated Press in New York. the end of September.

Seasonal flu kills even milder years. Lately, mild influenza seasons tend to kill about 12,000 Americans, and harsher seasons up to 56,000 people.

But 80,000 deaths represent an unusually high budget. Here's what led to soaring – and why you should get the flu shot.

Why was the flu season last year so bad?

Influenza is a respiratory disease of viral origin that causes fevers, headaches, coughs, muscle aches and runny noses that make many people unhappy in autumn and winter.

There are four types of influenza viruses – A, B, C and D – and seasonal flu is caused by influenza A and B viruses. Each year, different strains of these viruses circulate. Last year's flu season was more severe than usual because it involved the dreaded H3N2 virus, a strain of the influenza A virus that causes more health complications and is more difficult to prevent.

H3N2 seizures can be particularly deadly for vulnerable groups such as the elderly and children. Researchers still do not know why, but they found that an influenza season where the H3 virus is dominant is generally more nasty – with more hospitalizations and deaths related to influenza – than seasons with mostly H1N1 or B. And last year, the majority of influenza cases were in the H3N2 strain.

H3N2 is particularly difficult to prevent with influenza vaccine

Another reason for the severity of last year's flu season is that it is difficult to prevent the H3N2 virus with the influenza vaccine. To understand why, you need to understand how the flu vaccine works – and why it's not perfect.

The vaccine is designed to protect people against three or four strains of viruses A and B, which researchers say will be the most common in a given year. Thus, every year, public health agencies essentially make informed assumptions about the strains and mutations that will go around. As you can imagine, this is not an easy task – and in research studies on the effectiveness of influenza vaccines, researchers have found that the years in which H3N2 circulated tended to be years when the vaccine was less effective.

Edward Belongia, senior epidemiologist at the Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin, who investigated the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine, discovered that during the H3N2 season, the effectiveness of the combined vaccine was 33%. This meant that getting vaccinated reduced by about a third the risk of having to see a doctor. Influenza vaccine efficacy was 54% during influenza B seasons and 67% during the H1N1 seasons.

Thus, as predicted by researchers, studies on the effectiveness of last year's flu vaccine in America have shown that it has served less well than in previous years.

Your friendly reminder to get vaccinated against the flu

If you do not have it, take it. The flu season lasts until spring and there is still plenty of time to protect yourself and your family.

As I said before, influenza vaccines carry very little risk – and the great potential benefit of avoiding serious illness. That's why Belongia argues that even protection is better than no protection. "[It] still prevents many hospitalizations and deaths, "he said.

Even though the vaccine does not match H3N2, it offers better protection against other influenza viruses. And the AP reported that this year, health officials expect the most benign strains, which are better prevented by the vaccine, to dominate.

In addition, getting vaccinated is not just about protecting yourself; it is about protecting others through collective immunity. "Vaccinated people are essentially an obstacle to epidemics because diseases can not transmit them and infect others," said my colleague German Lopez. "If a sufficient percentage of the herd is immune, diseases can not spread to enough people to thrive." So, even if you think you can rule out an episode of influenza, you can pass it on to more vulnerable people who can not.

Older people, young children, pregnant women and all those with compromised immune systems are particularly vulnerable to the flu. Collective immunity and the vaccine are therefore particularly important for these groups. Last year, 80% of pediatric deaths occurred in unvaccinated children, according to the CDC.

When it comes to treating influenza, most people can just wait at home, take a lot of rest, and be careful not to infect others. However, people in these high-risk groups – young children, pregnant women, people over 65, people with other chronic diseases – may want to seek immediate medical attention and advice. antivirals like Tamiflu.

In the meantime, you can take even more simple steps to reduce your risk of getting the flu or spreading the virus to other people. They include a good old hand washing, covering your mouth when you cough and stay home if you are sick.