United States: A concerning number of children have so far succumbed to the flu in the present regular season, with one new death reported last week, the experts found.
More about the news
In the 2023-2024 flu season, there were two hundred kids flu fatalities, and in the previously held flu season, there were one hundred and ninety nine child flu deaths.
Data from the CDC reveals that a vast majority of children who died from flu this season did not get full doses of the flu vaccine. About 45 percent of the children had reported having one or more underlying medical complications.
Anyone over six months of age should get their flu vaccine every year, and it is best to get it before the end of October, according to the CDC.
The CDC says children aged up to 8 years who have never gotten a flu shot before should take two doses.
Recommendations of experts
The flu shot has recently been highly recommended for older adults by the expert agency, who are older persons aged sixty-five years and above. They may get a higher dose of flu shot for additional protection against severe illness, including hospitalization and death.
Dr. John Brownstein, chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News medical contributor stated, “Vaccination remains our most effective tool to prevent illness and reduce the risk of serious complications in children,” ABC News reported.
Having shown the epidemiology of flu vaccination for children, it has been observed that flu vaccination rates among children have been on the decline in the last few years. This year, 53.9 percent of children received the vaccination, which is 2.2 percentage points less than the previous flu season and 8.5 percentage points less than pre-pandemic flu season.
Cohort data indicate that flu vaccination reduced the threat of flu medical visits by nearly two-thirds and the threat of hospitalization among kids by about fifty percent, the CDC reported.