Last winter, about 80,000 people in the United States died of the flu and its complications, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
This was the highest death toll in at least 40 years. Experts said it was such a deadly season because it was driven by a strain of the flu that typically sends more people to the hospital and particularly hits children and the elderly hard, and the vaccine did not work very well against that strain. The flu season peaked in early February, and was basically over by the end of March.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Magazine solutions - December 27, 2024 / January 3, 2025Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - December 27, 2024 / January 3, 2025
-
Magazine printables - December 27, 2024 / January 3, 2025Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - December 27, 2024 / January 3, 2025
-
Why ghost guns are so easy to make — and so dangerousThe Explainer Untraceable, DIY firearms are a growing public health and safety hazard
-
California declares bird flu emergencySpeed Read The emergency came hours after the nation's first person with severe bird flu infection was hospitalized
-
The future of fluoridated water is up for debateThe Explainer The oral benefits are watery
-
Will the murder of a health insurance CEO cause an industry reckoning?Today's Big Question UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in what police believe was a targeted attack
-
Bird flu one mutuation from human threat, study findsSpeed Read A Scripps Research Institute study found one genetic tweak of the virus could enable its spread among people
-
Dark chocolate tied to lower diabetes riskSpeed Read The findings were based on the diets of about 192,000 US adults over 34 years
-
ACA opens 2025 enrollment, enters 2024 raceSpeed Read Mike Johnson promises big changes to the Affordable Care Act if Trump wins the election
-
The dark side of the contraceptive coilUnder the Radar Study linking hormonal IUD to increased breast cancer risk adds to growing concerns about whether the benefits of the coil outweigh the risks
-
Pink cocaine: the new drug cocktail responsible for an increasing number of deathsIn the Spotlight The substance has been linked to the death of Liam Payne and named in a lawsuit against Sean 'Diddy' Combs
