So, a friend of my grandson's died with the flu

[SheltieLover]

His family stated he'd been really, really ill with the "super flu" for 8 or 9 days and died overnight.

They also told me they saw a news piece talking about a 16 year-old girl, presumably otherwise healthy, who developed a fever one day from the flu and was dead the next day.

Be careful out there and get vaxed if you aren't already!

[in2herbs]

1. I thought I read somewhere that the vax for the flu does not affect this flu? Have you read this?? nt

[Hugin]

3. It's also being said that the current vaccinations reduce the severity of the so-called super flu. n/t

[SheltieLover]

8. That sort of makes sense, I guess.

Ty for sharing.

[JustAnotherGen]

41. I think it has me

Definitely not Covid - good old fashioned flu.

[Hugin]

46. Aw, I am sorry you have something.

I am getting over my very first round of COVID, ever. I am sure glad I had five years of vaccinations and an antiviral to depend on. Without those, I think I would have been a goner.

I am still masking, gloved, and distancing. Which is probably a good thing considering what I have heard about the flu this year.

[JustAnotherGen]

71. My husband

Has treated me like the early days of Covid since Nov. HE doesn't go anywhere without a mask.

He's a dual citizen and gets health alerts from the Italian Embassy. If we went somewhere when family was over from Germany and Italy? Everyone was masked. They did 8 hour flights masked.

I Don't think our Government is telling us the truth. Never thought I'd be one of "those people" - but here I am.

I didn't get Covid until March 2023. My husband has never had it. So he's sleeping in one of the guest rooms and we are texting each other.

[wolfie001]

95. "I Don't think our Government is telling us the truth."

tRUMP admin. is lying every minute about one thing or the other. Stay healthy!

[Lithos]

114. This is what I have heard

They guessed wrong for the specific flu variant, but what they have does provide sufficient immunity to help mitigate the worst aspects of this variant. Ie, you will get sick, but it significantly decreases the chance of death and/or long term illness.

[Hugin]

118. Thanks for filling out the gist.

[ShazzieB]

124. Good to hear!

Thanks for this info. Mr. B and I get vaxxed every year, and this year is no exception. We both had some kind of crud in early December, but it was pretty mild and we both came through it okay. Hope our luck holds!

[Seinan Sensei]

117. My Wife had the flu

Laid her low for a week.
I kept thinking I’d catch it … but didn’t.
I got the vaccine. She didn’t. So there’s that.

[Hugin]

119. Anecdotal yet intriguing...

As some random person out here thinking thoughts, as I have gotten vaccinations year after year. I have wondered if there is another component to vaccinations. Sure, they teach an immune system to recognize a specific threat, but couldn’t it also be “teaching” the immune system over time how to respond when confronted with a class of threat.

[sabbat hunter]

5. It is

not fully protecting against the type A flu, but it is making it not as bad as it would be from what I have read.

[SheltieLover]

9. Ty for sharing.

[SheltieLover]

6. Yup, but then the article said to get the vax anyway.

[Ms. Toad]

17. You are correct. This year's vaccination does not protect against the strain A superflu going around.

They are still pushing vaccinations based on the severity this year, but I've seen no evidence that a vaccination which doesn't protect against a particular strain of the flu somehow lessens the severity of that strain.

Lots of weasel words. Lots of generalities based on across the board statistics for all strains of influenza. But I haven't seen a study which suggests an unprotected strain is made less severe by an unmatched vaccine.

ETA: My daughter is now 4 weeks in and still coughing. Her doctor ordered her to the ER at 3 weeks. She tested positive for it. (Immune compromised, so her bout was likely worse than many.)

[TheRickles]

24. Thank you. The flu vaccines have always looked in the rear view mirror (they're aimed at last year's strain).

But they get overly positive PR, as we're seeing here.

[Ms. Toad]

34. Sorta-kinda.

They are looking at the strains last year, and those in the southern hemisphere 6 months ago (their flu season) to predict what might be coming around. They haven't had a better than 50% match since 2013 (if I recall correctly).

That said, there probably isn't a better way until we start regularly using mRNA vaccinations that might be adaptable more quickly to the current strains.

[in2herbs]

72. Sorry about your daughter's health. TY for clarification. nt

[Ms. Toad]

73. Thanks.

When she had autoimmune diseases that weren't treated with immune suppressants, she rarely had a viral infection, and when she did it was really light. Now that she's on infusions to suppress her immune system the landscape has changed.

[Random Boomer]

130. I'd rather take my chances with the vaccine than without the vaccine

But you do you.

[Ms. Toad]

131. I've had the flu twice in the last quarter century.

Beyond that I don't have specific memory, but it has been around the same frequency my entire life. Neither my mother, nor my grandmother (who survived the 1918 influenza epidemic) have ever gotten the flu.

[C Moon]

126. I caught the flu one year when the strain differed from that which I was vaccinated...

it was a piece of cake compared to a full blown flu.

[Unwind Your Mind]

2. I'm on day four of something yucky

I had my flu shot so

[SheltieLover]

10. Healing vibes on the way to you.

[Unwind Your Mind]

104. I'm so sorry about your grandsons friend nt

[SheltieLover]

107. Ty

In a way, he did himself in. No vax & refused repeated offers to take him to dr. Sad.

[LoisB]

65. I hope it passes quickly. Healing thoughts coming your way.

[Clouds Passing]

4. I'm sorry for the loss of your GS's friend, sad 😢

[SheltieLover]

11. Ty, Clouds.

Just got another text. He was not vaxed.

[surfered]

7. Yikes! That age group usually has the lowest risk!

[SheltieLover]

12. I know! And articles are saying this flu is killing more old people.

His friend was in his 40's, I'm guessing, and not vaxed, but that 16 yr old girl is terrifying.

[surfered]

91. They have to decide each year which strain of flu to develop a vaccine for.

They guessed wrong this year. So the flu vaccine we got in September was not aimed at this strain and is only 40-60% effective agsinst it. I can’t remember the exact %

[SheltieLover]

92. Thx

[Easterncedar]

13. The "Spanish" flu disproportionately killed younger people

I have read it was because their stronger immune systems overreacted.

[Sanity Claws]

18. I was just going to add that

How awful

[Ritabert]

29. My father lost two siblings to the "Spanish" flu. They were 7 and 9.

[Easterncedar]

37. My father lost a toddler brother

[wolfie001]

96. Mother Nature trying every day to bring us back into the ground

I grew up with this margarine commercial:
[img][/img]

[Maru Kitteh]

28. The Great Influenza killed the young and strong, it was part of

what made that pandemic so traumatic. Humans are used to watching the very young and old and ill die when infectious disease hits but in 1917 it was the soldiers doing the dying, high-school kids, young mothers.

[xocetaceans]

45. Here's a nice documentary that describes the influenza pandemic of 1918 . . .

We Heard the Bells The Influenza of 1918 - Spanish Flu Pandemic Documentary

Trump always said 1917 when he referred back to that pandemic, so maybe his fractured sense of history has entered and taken root in the public consciousness as correct, but Trump has always been incorrect.

[Maru Kitteh]

64. My dad was born in 1917. That's a mistake I've made for years, but yes,

The first cases popped up in Kansas in early spring of 1918.

[mommymarine2003]

70. My father was born in 1916. His father died of the Spanish flu in 1918. He was in his 30's.

My poor grandmother was widowed with two young children and two additional children from my grandfather and his late (first) wife. My grandmother was also pregnant with twins at the time, and she was sick with Diphtheria. The twins were born prematurely and were buried with my grandfather. How she mentally survived all that is beyond me.

[Maru Kitteh]

74. The relentlessness of disease, deprivation, war and death in

the early 20th century is difficult to contemplate from here. The sheer scale of it all from each individual life to the collective fates of entire societies. That world is all in black and white and it might as well be Ancient Greece to a great number of people living now.

[Melon]

76. They were " killed" by their own immune system overreacting

[Deuxcents]

14. I had Influenza A about 6 months before Covid started and w/out being dramatic, I had never been so sick before that

Or since. The recovery was long..two visits to urgent care and then the hospital. Mask up, get vaccinated and take good care because it sure does not discriminate. So sorry your grandson lost his friend 🌺

[SheltieLover]

19. Ty.

Glad you recoverd.

[malaise]

15. Too sad

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

16. Influencer Paul Kim's Son, 5, Dies After Contracting Severe Case of the Flu The Catholic content creator first shared th

https://people.com/influencer-paul-j-kim-son-micah-dies-after-severe-case-of-flu-11877386

Influencer Paul Kim's Son, 5, Dies After Contracting Severe Case of the Flu
The Catholic content creator first shared that his son had been hospitalized in a Dec. 21 Instagram post


Influencer Paul J. Kim’s 5-year-old son, Micah, died on Dec. 31, 2025, after contracting a severe case of the flu

Kim — who maintains a following of over 300,000 sharing videos about his Catholic faith — first revealed that his son had been hospitalized in a Dec. 21 Instagram post

In a video update to his Instagram page, Kim wrote that this has been "the hardest thing I've ever been through in my life and it continues to be"

[SheltieLover]

20. How heartbreaking.

Losing a child is horrific.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

40. Small sample size but this flu seems to be hitting the young

[SheltieLover]

43. Terrifying

[mzmolly]

21. I'm so sorry

for the loss of your grandson's friend.

[SheltieLover]

23. Ty, Mzmolly

[2naSalit]

22. My condolences!

That's scary.

[SheltieLover]

25. He was 49 & unvaxed.

[spooky3]

26. I'm so sorry! The flu is more serious than many of us realize. nt

[SheltieLover]

27. Ty. His relatives called it the super flu

He was 49 & unvaxed.

[spooky3]

30. FWIW, I heard on the radio today that there is a bad strain going around that was NOT

included in the current vax - maybe it developed after the vaccine was produced.

[Fil1957]

31. You don't have to live in fear. Just get vaccinated and wear a mask!

Since I live with a 95 year old, I've been masking up with a KN95 whenever I go into indoor public places since 2020.

Over the last 6+ years I've gotten one mild case of Covid, no colds and no flu. In my entire life I've never been this disease free.

On rare occasions people look at me funny, probably less than 5 times total over the last 6 years, but you know what, I'd much rather have people look at me funny than to be down a single hour with a cold, flu or Covid. The trade is well worth it.

If you really don't want to get sick and get others sick, you don't have to, just wear a mask!

Masks work! It's as simple as that.

P.S.You only need to do this indoors. Going outside without a mask is just fine...

[MLWR]

32. I have been vaccinated. I still wear a mask when I am "out and about."

[Ms. Toad]

36. Make sure you're washing your hands after touching anything frequently touched by others.

Unlike COVID, Influenza is more frequently spread by touch with contaminated objects than respiration of droplets.

[applegrove]

33. I think I read somewhere Dr. Oz was telling not to get vaxxed for the flu.

[hlthe2b]

35. I am sorry... I can scarcely speak to the devastation of public health messaging and policies

in this country today. If the minority of physicians who have sold out and are providing cover to these horrendous memes and destruction of vaccination programs/recommendations had ever seen a child die of measles encephalitis or an infant--desperate to breath but uncontrollably wheezing and coughing with pertussis--or a teen as you describe healthy one day and dead overnight from fulminant course of influenza, well, unless they are total sociopaths, they would do a 180 change overnight and beg for forgiveness.

No, the vaccine is not a great match to the now predominant variant, but it still confers protection against hospitalization and death. Pretty good bargain against a potential sore arm if you ask me.

[SheltieLover]

44. Ty!

[IbogaProject]

38. Where?

I've heard from an emergency preparedness professional that the new bird flu has an estimated ~50% lethal rate. It has been found in humans some. Human to human transmission hasn't occurred as of a couple of weeks ago but once that inevitable jump happens this will be a very serious crisis.
Stock up on n94 or n95 masks and make sure you have some HEPA filters in your living space. Soap rather than hand sanitizer is also needed for hygiene.

[SheltieLover]

47. SW TN

I just bought 2 boxes of niosh 3M N95s.

Where was bird flu you heard about?

Ty for sharing.

[IbogaProject]

66. Washington state and others

So far just birds to humans in close contact.

[JustAnotherGen]

39. I have it now

I don't know how bad it would be without my vaccination. I'm immune compromised so I get every jab available. Normally when I get the flu it turns into bacterial pneumonia. Cross fingers.

And my best to your grandson and his friend's family. This shit is scary.

[SheltieLover]

48. Healing vibes on the way to you.

[richdj25]

42. Here's another tip straight from

the medical world. If you start to feel sickly, start immediately on over the counter meds. If you're not sure ask your doctor or pharmacist for a recommendation. This is supposed to help in reducing any effects from the cold/flu virus.

[SheltieLover]

49. What kind of otc meds?

[marble falls]

50. It's time to start wearing masks. We've been ready for this: hoping for the best and prepared for the worst.

[SheltieLover]

51. I would if I ever left the house

I don't, but I just bought 2 boxes of 3M NIOSH NA95s

[marble falls]

52. We all gotta do what we gotta do. We seem to be on our own.

[SheltieLover]

53. Yup.

[Sympthsical]

54. It's pretty rough this year

The vaccine missed the mark unfortunately, and this stuff seems to be spreading pretty handily. My partner had a rough three or four days last week, and it spread through his family like wildfire.

I've so far avoided it (knock, knock) by washing my hands a lot and wiping surfaces. (Also slept downstairs in my home office for a few days). A lot of young people in his family sound like death. Just three straight weeks now of whatever is going on. We had a big Thanksgiving gathering, but basically stayed home for Christmas and New Years. We just traded food around with everyone.

We did, however, manage to scratch six movies off our extensive viewing backlog.

I'm back at the hospital for rotation next week, and I am not looking forward to that at all.

[SheltieLover]

56. Yikes. Sounds scary!

Deceased's family distanced & lysoled the hell out of everything &, thus far, have not taken ill.

Do you know what the incubation period is?

Pls stay safe at the hospital!

[Sympthsical]

63. Typically it's just a few days

You can start showing symptoms even the next day after exposure, but two to three days is more common.

The hospital might be safer, because at least there I'm putting on my spaceman suit to go into a flu patient's room, lol.

I'm sorry to hear about your grandson's friend. Flu is such a crapshoot. Yes, older and immuno-compromised people or those with comorbities are more susceptible to severe infection, but it can just take out a young, healthy individual without any seeming rhyme or reason. Read about the 5 year-old upthread, and it's just soul-crushing.

[Cha]

55. I'm So Sorry, Sheltie... That's so

incredibly Heartbreaking ... those poor things. 💔

[SheltieLover]

57. Mahalo, Cha

He was 49 yrs old & not vaxed.

Aloha 🌺

[bronxiteforever]

58. Sad and important. I know the retirement

village near me has told the residents to wear masks at all times because of the flu.

[SheltieLover]

59. Good for them!

Deceased was 49 yrs old & not vaxed, although the efficacy of the vax on this year's strain is iffy, from what I've read.

Stay safe out there, Bronxite!

[bronxiteforever]

60. You stay safe too SheltieLover.

[SheltieLover]

61. I never leave my house, so I'm ok

[HighFired49]

115. Be careful

Be careful of stuff that you bring into your house, like mail and groceries. Those can be contaminated with the viruses from others handling them.

[SheltieLover]

116. I am.

Ty!

[irisblue]

62. I am so sorry Sheltie.

[SheltieLover]

68. Ty, Iris

[LoisB]

67. How sad. My sympathies to his family and friends and your grandson.

[SheltieLover]

69. Ty, Lois

[Attilatheblond]

75. I recall a really bad flu strain 12 or more years ago that hit teens and young adults particularly hard

Doctors said their immune systems were so strong that it worked against them. Bodies can overreact to a virus and it can be extremely dangerous. Called Cytokine storm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokine_storm]

A cytokine storm, also called hypercytokinemia, is a pathological reaction in humans and other animals in which the innate immune system causes an uncontrolled and excessive release of pro-inflammatory signaling molecules called cytokines. Cytokines are a normal part of the body's immune response to infection, but their sudden release in large quantities may cause multisystem organ failure and death.[1]

[John1956PA]

77. Yes. I read that the phenomenon occurred in the influenza pandemic of 1918-1920.

[SheltieLover]

79. And with COVID as well

[Attilatheblond]

83. Yep. As someone with an autoimmune disorder, I can vouch for the fact that our bodies can & do turn against us.

[SheltieLover]

85. Oh I know they can

[John1956PA]

87. Thank you, Sheltie, for that bit of information.

The anecdotes of sudden deaths in the 1918-1920 pandemic are heartbreaking. There are stories of strong young men who left their houses to walk to work. They began to feel ill along the way. They turned around and walked back home, only to fall dead at their doorstep. Their immune systems' overwhelming reactions to the virus hit their systems so hard that they died of organ failure or from asphyxiation due to lung fluid.

Interestingly, it is reported that older people were not so harshly affected. There is a theory that they were exposed to a flu strain in the 1890s which provided partial immunization to them.

Here is hoping that we all come out of this season in high states of wellness.

[SheltieLover]

88. Omg how sad

Natural immunity goes by birth year. Not a guarantee, but an indication of whether one might have immune imprinting to provide some possible protection.

Yes, let's hope we all emerge from this unscathed.

[SheltieLover]

78. I believe COVID caused a cytokine in the wordt cases, too

[Hugin]

86. I was one of the unlucky few who caught that one.

First time ever fully dosed up on a rotation of acetaminophen and ibuprofen taking showers to keep the fever down. The spouse put me out on the back porch.

First telehealth session for me, long before it was a thing. My doctor told me to keep doing what I was doing and wished me luck.

That experience messed me up for around a year.

[Blues Heron]

80. FluView https://www.cdc.gov/fluview/surveillance/2025-week-52.html

https://www.cdc.gov/fluview/surveillance/2025-week-52.html

[SheltieLover]

82. Ty for sharing.

[Maru Kitteh]

81. That poor family, and this must have shaken you Sheltie.

That’s too close to home. but oh my heart aches for the trauma in that poor family right now.

[SheltieLover]

84. Ty, Maru

Gs's friend was 49 y/o, not vaxed, & refused to go to dr.

Sad, but in a way, he brought it on himself.

[EllieBC]

89. I think my husband picked it up at a hockey tournament.

One of our kiddos had a hockey tournament the week before Christmas. Those tournaments are always a hotbed for diseases.

We all got the vaccine but whatever it is my husband has he still had a nasty cough from it.

[SheltieLover]

90. I hope he is ok now.

[EllieBC]

93. I'm really sorry

to hear about your grandson’s friend. 49 is too young to go. 😭

My husband is slowly getting better. Still coughs like he smoked 2 packs a day for 30 years every morning.

[SheltieLover]

94. Ty

Last edited Tue Jan 6, 2026, 11:13 AM - Edit history (1)

Sorry to hear he's still trying to shake it. Healing vibes on the way.

[surfered]

97. Here's the article

https://parade.com/health/how-effective-flu-shot-this-year-2024-2025

[SheltieLover]

98. Ty!

[Aussie105]

99. The flu virus is a shape shifter.

Most viruses are.
It is the secret behind their success, being able to develop mutations that make them more potent.

The more people exist that aren't vaccinated, the bigger the reservoir of breeding grounds for the next super flu virus to evolve into a deadly form that kills off millions around the world.

A lesson from history.

Get vaccinated!

It's the middle of Summer here in Australia.
March is the start of the flu season.
We get vaccinated in March every year.
It is a special shot for us oldies, a cocktail of vaccines against every known strain.
Hopefully, fully up to date.

[SheltieLover]

100. Yup

[LetMyPeopleVote]

101. Take care and make sure you have your vaccinations up to date

[SheltieLover]

102. Ty. You too.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

103. I got my flu shot back in September and my latest COVID shot 9 days ago

I had COVID back in August and so was told to wait for next booster

[LittleGirl]

105. That's awful!

I can't take the flu vaccines because of my severe allergy to eggs. I've had all of the covid boosters with no problem.
My spouse had the flu until yesterday. He bounced right back. somehow I'm immune this time. Usually, he gets sick for a day and then I'm down for 3 weeks. Not this time.

[SheltieLover]

106. Glad you & hubby are ok.

Might be the strain. Immune imprinting provides some protection & is based on the year of birth.

[Rocknation]

108. Absolutely right -- it's never TOO late to vax, but it's always best to vax early

Last edited Thu Jan 8, 2026, 12:26 AM - Edit history (5)

It is perfectly safe to get up to four vaccines at once if they're medically compatible. But it's better to space them at least two weeks apart, and ideal to wait between six and eight weeks.

When I got my Covid booster in mid-September, I was also offered a flu vax. I said I would return for it in early November: my Covid antibodies would be nearly fully operational by then, and my flu antibodies would be fully operational in time for the height of the flu season in January.

My sincerest condolences.


Rocknation

[SheltieLover]

110. Ty

Yup. I usually get covid & flu shots together. One year i had tdap & pneumonis in addition. Lol

Stay well!

[Xavier Breath]

109. There was a 16 y.o. girl that died of the flu here in the Dayton, Ohio area.

I saw the report on the local news a day or two ago. They interviewed the girl's stepmom and her sister. The sister recounted how, at the end, she began choking on her own blood. She passed away on New Year's Eve. The news said she wanted to be a cosmetologist.

[SheltieLover]

111. Is that the 16 yr old that had a fever one day & died the next day?

[Xavier Breath]

112. My impression from the interview was that she was healthy and that it happened rather quickly.

[SheltieLover]

113. Ty. Deceased's family members told me of a similar story.

Horrifically sad.

[barbtries]

120. Here is a wonderful resource that can be trusted:

microbe.tv

youtube video following, but I promise it is worth the time. I understand however that the videos are also available on the website.

?si=9y0OK0D-EY2Shb9O

[SheltieLover]

122. Thx

[SunSeeker]

121. I made sure my 22 year old was vaccinated for flu and covid. None of his friends are.

One of his closest friends got the flu really bad and had trouble breathing, ended up in the ER during Christmas.

[SheltieLover]

123. Glad your kiddo is vaxed!

[Wednesdays]

125. Yes, take all preventive measures! However, if you DO get the flu...

Get Tamiflu if you can. I caught the flu last year, and after dosage of Tamiflu I was better immediately and was back on my feet within a day. And that was after I was four days into the illness!

[SheltieLover]

127. Ty for sharing!

Will do.

[momta]

128. As it happens...

I read this just after getting home from getting three vaccinations: flu, covid, and shingles (the first one). It was super easy at Safeway and my insurance paid for all of them.

Note: I've had shingles twice. Really don't want to go through that again

[SheltieLover]

129. Glad you're vaxed up!