Dear Editor: As a fourth-year medical student, I have spent time in clinics asking patients if they are interested in getting the flu vaccine. Many people get the vaccine. However, many patients tell me that they “never get sick” or that “I got the flu vaccine once and got the flu.”
….Influenza is not trivial. The Centers for Disease Control report that 5-20 percent of the population gets the flu each year, 200,000 are hospitalized due to complications, and 36,000 people die. The very young, the very old, and those with conditions such as asthma, diabetes, pregnancy, or heart disease are most at risk for serious complications.
(Rebekah Jakel is a fellow in the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health)