Flu Season and other Illnesses
Holidays are over but many times these winter months can also bring on colds and especially the flu. With the 21st century medicine it is not so much a worry as an inconvenience dealing with the illness.
This was not the case for our ancestors. Many people, young and old alike died during this time of year from such diseases. Today in fact many of the diseases that afflicted countless people decades ago have been eliminated. You rarely hear of malaria, typhoid, smallpox, tuberculous (TB), typhus or cholera, especially in the United States. 
Besides the diseases affecting our ancestors, there were medical conditions which could have infections and could cause their deaths. There was pleurisy, meningitis, jaundice and dysentery to name a few.
In doing your family history; medical conditions, illnesses and causes of deaths in the family are an essential element to have written down. Label whatever you can locate on any illnesses you find, labeling with the correct relative. That is help you and your own family have a more complete family medical history. 
This site by Olive Tree Genealogy has a list of diseases and medical conditions that many ancestors suffered from. It provides the different names that they were referred to, which could vary over the years. Like ‘dropsy’ is what we call today congestive heart failure.
Also ‘Old Disease Names‘ by Sylvain Cazalet has a good list to review.
Stay Well. 
Related FamilyTree.com genealogy blogs:
Create a Family Medical History
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