Baby Boomers Being Hit Hard With This Year’s Flu

This year’s flu seasons is unusually severe. Among people of all ages, the flu virus is hitting faster and harder, with more flu-related deaths than past years. But one age group is being affected more than others: baby boomers.

Past flu seasons have seen babies between the ages of zero and four and senior citizens suffer more severe flu symptoms than other age groups. But those around the average age of retirement 63, particularly those between the ages of 50 and 64, are being hospitalized at unusually high rates.

Because babies haven’t been exposed to many viruses, it makes sense that they get sicker than healthy adults. Without that exposure, their immunity to the virus hasn’t had a chance to be boosted yet. So, in theory, baby boomers should have a better chance to fight the flu virus with their immune systems being exposed to decades of flu seasons. But this year is different.

According to the CDC, a phenomenon called imprinting may be to blame for this flu season’s impact on baby boomers.

“The first influenza virus somebody’s exposed to as a child has a way of determining how you respond to influenza for the rest of your life,” said Dr. Dan Jernigan, director of the Influenza Division at the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

Because of this, those not imprinted by this particular flu strain, in the 50- to 64- year age group, may not have the same protection against this year’s flu as older people.

The H3N2 flu, sometimes called the “Aussie flu”, first appeared during the 1968 flu pandemic. This flu strain killed more than a million people worldwide. By the time this strain showed up, the youngest boomers had likely already picked up a different H2N2 virus as their imprint.

Children today typically get their exposure to flu through vaccines rather than the illness itself. Those who got this year’s flu shot as their first exposure to flu were exposed to multiple strains. The most common shot this year contained three strains: H3N2, H1N1, and influenza B.

However, it’s important to note that imprinting may not always be helpful. Recent research suggests that it can instead hurt someone’s chances of fighting off another flu if they’re born in a pandemic flu year. Flu experts believe this kind of dramatic first imprint may actually damage a person’s immune system. This, in turn, would make it harder for them to fight off other similar strains later on in life.

So because baby boomers have immune systems that were built to fight off viruses from decades ago, this particular flu strain is affecting them more.

Already, baby boomers are concerned about their health status. Seeing as how about 65% of those older than 60 years of age experience dizziness or loss of balance on regular basis, it’s particularly scary thinking about how severe they could be impacted by the flu this season.

The predominant strain this year, H3N2, has continued to change and evade the human immune system.

“It really depends on a mixture of things: the environment, the virus itself and how it changes,” and, Jernigan said, “also the host.”