Mary Polak, Minister of Healthy Living and Sport, receives a flu shot at the launch of the annual influenza campaign on November 3, 2008 at the B.C. Legislature.

Influenza, often called the flu, is an infection of the nose, throat and lungs caused by an influenza virus. A person with influenza is also at risk of other infections, such as viral or bacterial pneumonia, an infection of the lungs. In Canada, it is estimated up to 7,000 people die from influenza and its complications every year.