If avoiding a miserable, potentially deadly virus isn't motivation enough to get a flu shot, here's one more reason: American adults sick with flu cost about $5.8 billion last year in medical visits, medication and lost productivity, according to a new study published in Health Affairs.
And it isn't just the flu; the study found that adults sick with a slew of diseases that can be prevented by vaccines collectively cost about $9 billion in 2015. Vaccines can't prevent all illness, but most of that financial burden — $7.1 billion — was caused by people who skipped vaccines, for diseases including influenza and HPV.
