By MAGGIE ASTOR It’s that time of year again. School is starting, the days are getting shorter, and the familiar “flu shots available” signs are appearing outside pharmacies. Each year, the flu kills tens of thousands of people in the United States, on average, and hundreds of thousands are hospitalized. How can you protect yourself this season? Here’s what you need to know. Should I get a flu vaccine? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends annual flu shots

A man walks in floodwaters where the vast Tulare Lake once existed outside Corcoran, Calif., March 25, 2023. (Mark Abramson/The New York...

COVID vaccine doses at a vaccination site at a shopping mall in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, Jan. 7, 2022. The FDA has approved updated COVID...

The World Health Organization is warning that current transmission patterns resemble a global outbreak that infected 500,000 people 20...

Research suggests that exercising in warm, humid conditions can provide what some call “poor man’s altitude training” — improving...

A seven-month-old receives a COVID-19 vaccine formulated for under-5-year-olds in Houston, June 22, 2022. Under Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,...

Sandy Hupp, 71, trains at Greysteel Strength and Conditioning gym, in Farmington Hills, Mich., on June 20, 2025. Greysteel, a gym outside...

A view of the city during the cyclists’ ride, in Bogota, Colombia, June 26, 2025. At an altitude of 8,500 feet, Bogota is cool...