Estimates of Influenza Vaccination Coverage among Adults—United States, 2017–18 Flu Season | FluVaxView | Seasonal Influenza (Flu) | CDC

Estimates of Influenza Vaccination Coverage among Adults—United States, 2017–18 Flu Season | FluVaxView | Seasonal Influenza (Flu) | CDC

Many adults didn't get a flu vaccine last season

The CDC just released new data on last year's flu season. A quick look at the numbers:

• 49 million people fell ill with the flu last year, and 22.7 million people went to a health care provider for symptoms related to the flu.
• There were 960,000 flu-related hospitalizations that season, and 79,000 deaths.
• Just 37 percent of adults got a flu vaccine, a decline compared to previous flu seasons. The CDC says it's not sure why that's the case, but it might be due, in part, to healthy adults thinking they don't need the vaccine and reports that last year's vaccine wasn't very effective in Australia as the U.S. season was getting underway.