Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Long, Unusually Intense Flu Season Was Deadliest For Kids In Nearly A Decade
The past flu season was the deadliest for U.S. children in nearly a decade, health officials said Friday. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said they had received reports of 172 pediatric flu deaths since October. That surpasses the 2012-2013 flu season, when there were 171. An average season sees about 110. There were more deaths in 2009-2010, but that was when a rare flu pandemic occurred involving a new strain. More than 300 children died that season. (Stobbe, 6/8)
About half of this season鈥檚 deaths were in otherwise healthy children. They ranged in age from 8 weeks to 17 years. Of those for whom a flu shot is recommended,聽less than one-fourth聽of the children who died had been fully vaccinated. That was about the same proportion as in past winter flu seasons. The number of pediatric flu deaths 鈥渋s a record number since we鈥檝e been keeping track, outside of the pandemic,鈥 said Daniel Jernigan, who heads the CDC鈥檚 influenza division. And the聽number is considered an undercount because it includes only lab-confirmed cases that are listed on death certificates and then reported to the CDC. It could go even higher because of reporting delays. (Sun, 6/8)
