The 2024-2025 flu season has seen the highest rate of hospitalizations for the disease since the 2010-2011 season, according to the CDC. As of May 3rd, 2025, the CDC estimates that there are a total of 610,000 influenza hospitalizations in addition to an estimated total of 47 million infections. There have been around 27,000 total flu deaths so far with this season being the first high severity season for all age groups since 2017-2018, with a total of 226 pediatric deaths.
Contributing to this high death toll, especially for the pediatric deaths, is the decline in the rate of vaccinations due to the skepticism and untrust in vaccines, per to the New York Times. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the rate of Americans receiving the annual flu shot had been climbing slowly, but since the pandemic there has been a decrease in vaccination rates and an increase in the questioning of the impact and safety of vaccines. Misinformation has also contributed to the uneasiness when it comes to vaccinations. Also, the specific flu strains prevalent this year are typically associated with more severe flu seasons.
The CDC states that 90% of children who died from the flu were not fully vaccinated against it. More than 10% of the pediatric deaths happened in New York, with a total of 25 deaths. Only one child was vaccinated and 5 were too young to receive the vaccination, since a child is only eligible for a vaccine at 6 months.
The CDC is still advising that everyone 6 months or older continue to get an annual flu vaccine.
Every year when winter arrives, schools across the country like HHS face an increase in absences. A plethora of students are absent from school annually during the colder months because of the illnesses that go around such as the flu. Classes get smaller and more empty as more and more people become sick. Freshman Dee Sweeney notes, “It was really distracting in school to have half of the class absent because they were sick in addition to having half of the class being sick in school.” Similarly, freshman Ava Halsing shares, “My classes constantly were not full, seemingly almost every class missing a person or two. Though I didn’t get the flu, I caught a few colds from the constant sicknesses going around.”
Goldstein , J. (2025a, May 7). Flu killed 25 children in new york this season, the most in many years. The New York Times. Retrieved May 9, 2025, from https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/07/nyregion/flu-children-died.html.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Weekly US Influenza Surveillance Report: Key Updates for Week 18, ending May 3, 2025. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/fluview/surveillance/2025-week-18.html
