People at high risk for complications from the flu:

• People 65 years and older;
• People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities that house those with long-term illnesses;
• Adults and children 6 months and older with chronic heart or lung conditions, including asthma;
• Adults and children 6 months and older who needed regular medical care or were in a hospital during the previous year because of a metabolic disease (like diabetes), chronic kidney disease, or weakened immune system (including immune system problems caused by medicines or by infection with human immunodeficiency virus [HIV/AIDS]);
• Children 6 months to 18 years of age who are on long-term aspirin therapy. (Children given aspirin while they have influenza are at risk of Reye syndrome.);
• Women who will be pregnant during the influenza season;
• All children 6 to 23 months of age;
• People with any condition that can compromise respiratory function or the handling of respiratory secretions (that is, a condition that makes it hard to breathe or swallow, such as brain injury or disease, spinal cord injuries, seizure disorders, or other nerve or muscle disorders.)

People 50 to 64 years of age: Nearly one-third of people 50 to 64 years of age in the United States have one or more medical conditions that place them at increased risk for serious flu complications.

People who can transmit flu to others at high risk for complications: Any person in close contact with someone in a high-risk group (see above) should get vaccinated. This includes all health-care workers, caregivers of children 6 to 23 months of age, and close contacts of people 65 years and older.

The Centers for Disease Control has identified people who should get vaccinated for pneumonia each year. They are:

• People 65 and older;
• People with chronic heart, lung, or liver disease;
• People with diabetes;
• People with suppressed immune systems;
• People who have had their spleen removed or have sickle cell anemia;
• People who have leakage of spinal fluid or a chronic kidney condition that causes loss of protein through urine;
• People with organ or bone marrow transplants;
• People with chronic kidney failure.