10 Ways You May Put Yourself at Risk for Flu (Without Realizing It!)

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Worrying too little

This may seem to contradict risk factor No. 1, but, in fact, the healthiest approach to flu season is to take a position somewhere between panic and indifference. You may assume that you're too young or too healthy to get very sick from influenza. That is still probably true—though maybe not as true as in previous years.

Typically, high-risk flu patients are at least 65 years old, under age 2, pregnant, or have preexisting medical conditions. H1N1 seems to be able to cause severe illness in some otherwise healthy children and young adults, and people over age 65 are less likely to get ill (possibly due to immunity from exposure to some type of virus in the past). U.S. infection and hospitalization rates have been highest among children and teenagers.

The bottom line: Age group or health status doesn't make you invincible, and we should all take flu prevention seriously.