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INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Department of Health encourages Hoosiers to protect themselves against influenza (flu) after confirming the first flu-related death of the 2024-25 season. No additional information about the patient will be released due to privacy laws.
During flu season, which typically runs from October through May, hundreds of Hoosiers become sick from influenza, and some cases are fatal. More than 270 Hoosiers died after contracting influenza during the 2023-24 flu season.
“During respiratory illness season, it is important for Hoosiers to practice healthy habits, like frequent and thorough handwashing, avoiding touching their eyes, nose and mouth with their hands, and staying home when sick. This helps prevent the spread of flu, which can quickly become a serious, even life-threatening illness for some Hoosiers,” said State Health Commissioner Lindsay Weaver, M.D., FACEP.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends everyone age 6 months and older get a flu vaccine each year. Annual flu vaccines are available and are safe and effective protection against becoming seriously ill. The CDC also recommends early vaccination as it takes about two weeks for the antibodies which protect against flu to develop in the body and holiday season when families gather indoors is approaching.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
