Skipping your annual flu shot costs more than just raising the odds that you or others might catch the bug. A study in Health Affairs reports that the national economic costs for failing to get vaccinated for the flu or other preventable diseases like pneumonia and hepatitis B due to subsequent doctor visits, lost productivity and hospitalizations was nearly $9 billion in 2015.

Don't blame the kids. Eighty percent of the financial burden — $7.1 billion — was attributed to unvaccinated adults.

Children are the Future

They may be doing it later in life, but half of American women, ages 15 to 44, say they plan to have children someday, up from 46 percent in 2002 when the Centers for Disease Control last asked the question.

Among married and cohabiting women, the expectation of having children within the next two years was roughly similar, 19 and 16 percent, respectively.

Among women with no children, just 22 percent said they did not expect to ever bear a child.

Among women who already had two or more children, 82 percent said that was enough.

Body of Knowledge

The average person sheds 121 pints of tears in a lifetime. How many of those tears of joy or sorrow isn't known, but only humans shed tears from emotion. Many animals, including crocodiles, have lachrymal glands, but the fluids produced serve only to clean and lubricate their eyes.

Get Me That, Stat!

The Obama Administration expects to sign up almost 14 million people for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act during the current enrollment period, according to STAT News. Eight million enrolled during the first 2014 open enrollment period (Oct 2013-April 2014). Currently, just 8.6 percent of all Americans have no health insurance, an all-time low.

Number Cruncher

A single serving of guacamole (30 grams or about 2 tablespoons) contains 60 calories, 45 from fat. It has 5 grams of total fat or 8 percent of the recommended total fat intake for a 2,000-calorie daily diet.

It contains zero milligrams of cholesterol; 90 mg of sodium (4 percent); 3 grams of total carbohydrates (1 percent); 2 g of dietary fiber (8 percent) and 1 g of protein.

Counts

12,000: Average cost, in dollars, of single in vitro fertilization treatment in U.S., not including medications

3.6 million: Amount of money, in dollars raised on the fundraising site GoFundMe (1,700 campaigns, almost 37,000 individual donations) to help pay for in vitro fertilization treatments

85,000: Estimated number of American women who undergo in vitro fertilization each year

20-35: Success rate, as a percentage, of per cycle (single) in vitro fertilization treatment for majority of patients

Sources: Forbes; Bloomberg; National Infertility Association

Doc Talk

Pillow positive: Patients who are regularly admitted into hospitals for prolonged stays, but with no apparent physiological problem. It's joked that they arrive at the hospital with their own, favorite pillows.

Phobia of the Week

Logophobia: fear of words (I'll say no more.)

Never Say Diet

The Major League Eating record for asparagus is 12 pounds, 8.75 ounces in 10 minutes, held by Joey Chestnut. The feat is undisputed, though witnesses at the event say something stank.

Best Medicine

Q: What's an advantage to suffering from major depression?

A: You never have to make your bed, since you're always in it.

Observation

"We are happier in many ways when we are old than when we were young. The young sow wild oats. The old grow sage." —Winston Churchill

Medical History

This week in 1876, Albert Hook was given a patent for the first U.S. cigarette manufacturing machine, though practical commercial use was delayed until 1872. The Hook machine produced a continuous cigarette that was cut into specified lengths. According revenue collection figures at the time, the number of cigarettes manufactured in 1875 was 50 million. In 2015, more than 264 billion cigarettes were sold in the U.S., mostly American-made.

Sum Body

The five states with the highest and lowest percentages of adult cigarette smokers.

1. Kentucky (25.9 percent)

2. West Virginia (25.7)

3. Arkansas (24.9)

4. Mississippi (22.5)

5. Missouri (22.3)

45. Massachusetts (14)

46. Idaho (13.8)

47. Connecticut (13.5)

48. New Jersey (13.5)

49. California (11.7)

50. Utah (9.1)

Med School

Q: Which sense develops first?

A: Newborns can see, touch, taste, smell and hear, though not all of these senses are equally developed at birth. Except for vision, all of the senses are stimulated in the womb. Touch is the first sensory system to develop and likely the most mature at birth.

Curtain Calls

The Swedish author Dan Andersson (1888-1920) checked in, but didn't check out, of the Hotel Hellman in Stockholm. Prior to Andersson's arrival, hotel staff had used hydrogen cyanide to eradicate a bedbug infestation. That killed off the pests, but also Andersson when staff failed to completely void his room of the killer gas.