It always starts innocently enough. The weather outside suddenly shifts from being warm to cold, or cold to warm. Someone from your office calls out sick. Then, a noticeable amount of co-workers are calling out sick. The next thing you know, you are bedridden.
The scary part? The flu can actually lead to death.
Influenza -- better known by it's chummier name, the flu -- has taken lives before. It doesn't only happen in developing countries every once in a while either. On average, the flu kills about 36,000 people in the United States every single year; that's more lives than alcohol-induced deaths or traffic crashes.
Sadly, most Americans don't know how dangerous this virus is. We're hoping to change that with the infographic below. Go ahead and click through all the facts. Get familiar with how the flu spreads, what it looks like and who is more at risk. Most importantly, find out how you can avoid being one of those 36,000 people.
Infographic design: Chris Mineses/Mashable