Eleven more influenza-associated pediatric deaths were reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the week ending Feb. 8, bringing the total to 68 for the 2024-’25 season in the U.S.
The CDC’s weekly influenza surveillance report states that seasonal flu activity remains elevated and “is higher than it has been all season.” The CDC classifies this season as “high severity” for all age groups, which hasn’t happened since 2017-’18.
Recent AAP analysis of federal data found that influenza-related hospital admissions spiked between Jan. 4 and Feb. 1 for all pediatric patients. Admissions of patients ages 5-17 saw a 145% increase, from 959 to 2,348, over that period.
Of the 11 pediatric deaths announced Friday, 10 were associated with influenza A viruses, including three A(H1N1) cases and three A(H3N2) cases. One death was attributed to an influenza B/Victoria virus.
As of Feb. 8, 45.9% of U.S. children had received the flu vaccine this season.
The AAP and CDC recommend everyone 6 months and older get vaccinated against the flu and COVID-19. The vaccines can be given at the same time. In addition, eligible infants, high-risk toddlers, pregnant people and older people should get immunized against respiratory syncytial virus.
The CDC estimates there have been 29 million illnesses, 370,000 hospitalizations and 16,000 deaths from the flu this season. The weekly percentage of U.S. deaths from influenza surpassed that of COVID-19 on Jan. 25 and continued to climb to 2.6% for the week ending Feb. 8.
Bird flu update
The CDC counted one new bird flu case for the week ending Feb. 8, reported by the Ohio Department of Health to be an adult male farm worker who came into contact with infected dead poultry. Human-to-human transmission of avian influenza has not been identified in the U.S.
The CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) published Feb. 13 suggests bird flu has spread to states where infections have not yet been identified by testing.
The report details a study that sought to determine the prevalence of recent highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5) infection in 150 veterinarians who had been exposed to cattle. Blood tests for three veterinarians were positive for the HPAI A(H5) virus despite having no exposure to animals with known or suspected cases. None of the veterinarians reported flu-like symptoms.
“These findings suggest that there might be HPAI A(H5) virus-infected dairy cattle in states where infection in dairy cattle has not yet been identified, highlighting the importance of rapid identification of infected dairy cattle through herd and bulk milk testing as recently announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture,” according to the report.
The CDC says the risk to the public from bird flu remains low.
