Flu season doesn’t have to be as deadly as the last

Last year’s flu season was long, brutal, and ultimately tragic. By the time infections had subsided in May, as many as 1.1 million Americans were estimated to have been hospitalized and as many as 100,000 had died. Among them were 280 children — the highest number recorded in a non-pandemic year since health agencies began tracking the virus in 2004. Some of that misery was likely avoidable. Over the past few weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released a series of reports analysing last year’s flu season, and together they point to one simple way to ease the burden of the infection: get more Americans vaccinated against the virus.

- Lisa Jarvis, Tribune News Service

That needs to happen soon. October marks the official start of flu season, but the virus has yet to start spreading widely. Because the shot, which the CDC recommends everyone six months of age or older receive annually, offers the best protection when people get it before the virus begins circulating, now is the time to get vaccinated. Last season, the flu started picking up in November, but really peaked in February 2025, when entire schools were forced to shut down and some hospitals were more crowded than they'd been during parts of the Covid-19 pandemic.