Getting the Flu: Inside the Fight Against a Deadly Virus

Tune in Monday Feb. 25 at 5:30 p.m. for "Getting the Flu," a new three-part I-Team series. 

Influenza might be a household name, but doctors say it is still one of the deadliest viruses out there.

The flu lands tens of thousands of people in hospital each year in the United States, and kills just as many worldwide. Despite this, vaccination rates are abysmal.

The CDC estimates only four in 10 people get the yearly flu shot. Even then, it’s a vaccine that only works about half of the time, while flu tests are also unreliable and flu drugs can only be taken in a short window.

In a new three-part series, NBC New York's I-Team takes a look inside what makes this virus such a killer.

Why is the vaccine so ineffective, and how does this common virus become lethal? We spoke with emergency room doctors, the National Institutes of Health, grieving mothers who buried their children from the flu and even vaccine makers in an effort to "get" the flu.

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