Flu Shot & Chronic Illness

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Chronic Illness

Don’t Let Influenza Complicate Your Illness

Influenza can make existing medical conditions much worse. If you have a chronic medical condition such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes, or heart disease, influenza can cause serious complications—and sometimes even death.

Getting a flu shot every year can lower those risks. An analysis by the American Lung Association found that if 100% of people with asthma received the influenza vaccine, up to 136,000 hospitalizations could be prevented each year.

If you or someone you know has one of the following conditions, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that you get a flu shot each and every year:¹

Asthma
COPD
Heart disease
Lung disease
Kidney disease
Metabolic diseases, such as diabetes
Anemia and other blood disorders
Weakened immune system

It also is important for caregivers and household contacts for the chronically ill to get the flu shot every year.¹ These include parents, grandparents, siblings, babysitters, and day care providers.

Did you know?

Portrait Gallery

Cindy Marek

Cancer Survivor

Cindy Marek can happily say she has beaten cancer and passed her five-year mark without recurrence. Influenza vaccination is recommended for people with cancer, like Cindy, whose immune systems are weakened by the disease or by cancer treatment.^1,2
Mario Linares

Older Adult Living with Type 2 Diabetes

Mario Linares is over 60 years of age and has type 2 diabetes: a chronic medical condition that increases his risk for many serious complications, such as heart disease, blindness, nerve damage, and kidney damage.
Brett Colavolpe

College Student Living with Type 1 Diabetes

Brett Colavolpe, who has type 1 diabetes, makes annual influenza immunization a priority because he knows those with high-risk conditions, such as diabetes, can be even more severely affected by this often devastating disease.^1,2
Brandon Williams and Dmitri Aston

Brothers Living with Asthma

Brandon and Dmitri have asthma. Their mother Lakisha knows the flu can worsen symptoms of asthma like wheezing, and make breathing even more difficult.^14-16 That’s why she makes sure her family is vaccinated each and every year.
Dean Cain

Actor, Father, and Asthmatic

Actor Dean Cain has asthma. While he may have been a great football player and appeared as Superman on the popular television series "Lois and Clark," he knows he’s no real-life superhero. He fears getting the flu.
Richard and Alissa Kanowitz

Parents of Amanda Kanowitz, Who Died From Influenza-related Complications at Age 4

When Richard and Alissa Kanowitz lost their daughter Amanda to influenza-related complications in 2004, they decided to do everything they could to save other families from enduring similar heartbreak.
Tyra Bryant-Stephens, MD

Director, Community Asthma Prevention Program, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

As founder of the Community Asthma Prevention Program at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Dr. Tyra Bryant-Stephens knows how dangerous the flu can be to children with asthma and other respiratory problems.