New York – More American people died this flu season at any time from the Pandemia of Porcine flu 15 years ago, according to a federal report published on Friday.
The 216 pediatric deaths reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eclipsed the 207 reported last year. It has been the most since the H1N1 2009-2010 global influenza pandemic.
It is surprising that the number is already so high, since the flu season is still going on. The latest counting of pediatric death for the 2023-2024 flu season was not counted before fall.
“This number that we have now is almost certainly an under accountability, and which – when the season is declared, and they compile all the data – it is almost certain to go up,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
There are probably several contributors to the gravity of this season, but a big one is that fewer children get influenza photos, added O’Leary, specialist in pediatric infectious diseases of the University of Colorado.
The flu vaccination rate for American children has increased from around 64% five years ago to 49% this season.
Vaccinations against flu may not prevent people from finding symptoms, but research shows that they are very effective in preventing hospitalizations and deaths, said O’Leary, adding that the drop in vaccinations “certainly plays a role” in the loss of life of this season.
The season was not only difficult for children. CDC officials have described it as “very serious” and believe that so far, there have been at least 47 million diseases, 610,000 hospitalizations and 26,000 deaths this season.
The good news is that influenza indicators have been decreasing since February.
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