Plus data on spam calls, text fraud and more.

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** How many people in the US get the flu?
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The flu affects millions of people every year, and outbreaks become more likely in colder months. Data on influenza trends is crucial for public health, particularly for vulnerable groups, and provides insight into how COVID-19 affected flu rates. Dig into the data with this updated article at USAFacts ([link removed]) .
* During the 2022–2023 US flu season, approximately 31.91 million people had flu symptoms and about 21,410 people died from the flu.
* The CDC estimated that the 2017–18 flu season had the highest number of flu deaths in more than a decade: 52,000. The lowest was the 2020–21 flu season, with 4,900 deaths.

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* The latest state data is from 2020. It shows that Kansas, West Virginia, and North Dakota had 2020’s highest age-adjusted death rates.
* Last season, the mortality rate for Americans 65 and older was 26.6 per 100,000 — more than three times higher than any other age group. Nearly 72% of all flu-related deaths were among people in this age group.
* Flu vaccinations prevented an estimated 22,446 hospitalizations and 897 deaths in the 2021–2022 flu season. Over the past decade, the number of deaths prevented by vaccinations ranged from as few as 2,840 in the 2018–2019 season up to 12,166 in the 2013–2014 season.
* Flu activity in the 2020–21 flu season was the lowest since the CDC began collecting data in 1997. The CDC attributed this largely to face masks, reduced travel, and other COVID-19 mitigation efforts.

Learn more in this article ([link removed]) . Then, see the numbers on RSV ([link removed]) , another common winter illness.


** Americans lose millions of dollars to phone scams
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Spam phone calls ([link removed]) and fraudulent text messages ([link removed]) are nearly daily irritations for most Americans. But for many people, they’re not just annoying, they’re financially draining. The rise in unwanted calls and text scams has led to significant financial losses and numerous complaints to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). USAFacts has a pair of new articles on these modern nuisances.
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* In 2022, text message scams were particularly effective. Americans lost nearly $330 million through these scams, with the median loss per scam being $1,000.
* The FTC received 2.56 million overall fraud reports last year. Twenty-two percent of them, or 329,599 reports, were about text messages. Business imposters were the most common type of text message fraud, resulting in losses of $35.1 million.

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* The National Do Not Call Registry reported a five-year low in complaints about unwanted calls last year, with annual complaints down 47% since 2018.
* Over 2 million spam call complaints from January 2019 to September 2023 were related to people (or robocalls) falsely posing as government representatives or legitimate businesses.
* In 2022, Delaware had the most complaints per person, with 1,537 per 100,000 people. North Dakota residents reported the fewest complaints per person: 399 per 100,000.

There’s more where that came from: See which states report the most fraud ([link removed]) overall, and learn how the government collects government about the Do Not Call List ([link removed]) .


** Data behind the news
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Last month, the Supreme Court said it would take up the Biden administration's bid to maintain access to mifepristone, a widely used abortion pill. This article from our archives maps out which states ban the medication ([link removed]) .

Did you study over the holidays? Then you’re sure to ace the weekly fact quiz ([link removed]) .


** One last fact
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About 35.9 million children received a school lunch ([link removed]) in the federal fiscal year 2021. The National Center for Education Statistics reports that 43% of US public school students attend schools where most students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
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