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Ozzy Osbourne hospitalized over flu complications

“This is the best way to get him on a quicker road to recovery,” tweeted Sharon Osbourne, the 70-year-old rocker's wife.
Ozzy Osbourne in 2016.
Ozzy Osbourne in 2016.PA / PA Wire via AP

Ozzy Osbourne has been hospitalized because of flu complications, according to the rocker's wife, Sharon Osbourne.

She wrote on Twitter Wednesday that the 70-year-old was admitted “following some complications from the flu.” She wrote doctors believe “this is the best way to get him on a quicker road to recovery.”

In 2018 Osbourne canceled several shows on his North American tour in 2018 because of a staph infection in his hand.

It was announced last week that the United Kingdom and European leg of Ozzy Osbourne's No More Tours2 tour was postponed because of doctors' orders. He thanked all for wishing him a speedy recovery.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, influenza activity is widespread in at least 44 states. While overall illnesses in the 2018-2019 season have been comparatively milder than last season's, about 11 million people have caught the flu since October and as many as 141,000 people have been hospitalized. The highest number of hospitalizations from the flu this season are people over age 65, the CDC reports.

The flu vaccine is the best protection against complications for people over 65, the CDC says. And because older people tend to have weaker immune responses to the flu shots, a “high dose” vaccine, which has four times the flu-fighting strength as a regular shot, is available.