Flu-related Deaths In Kids Climb To 84
According to the latest FluView surveillance data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), flu is still active throughout most of the country. Last week brought a dramatic increase in pediatric flu deaths, with at least 22 more children dying from the virus between February 4 and February 10, bringing the total number of pediatric deaths up to 84 for the flu season 2017–2018.
Dr Anne Schuchat, CDC’s Acting Director, joined Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Surgeon General Jerome Adams, MD, MPH, to address the nation on the ongoing flu season.
“Three out of four kids who’ve died this year were not vaccinated,” said Schuchat. This week, there are 22 more pediatric deaths, bringing the season’s total to 84. Five of the pediatric deaths were attributed to influenza B infection, while the remaining 17 were linked to influenza A. Schuchat, Azar, and Adams all strongly encouraged everyone to get a flu shot for themselves and especially for their kids if they had not done so yet.
The CDC also announced the interim flu vaccine effectiveness (VE) estimates, showing the overall VE this flu season against influenza A and B associated with medically attended acute respiratory illness was 36% (95% CI 27%-44%). The individual vaccine efficacy was 25% (95% CI 13%-36%) against influenza A (H3N2), 42% (95% CI 25%-56%) against influenza B, and 67% (95% CI 54%-76%) against influenza A (H1N1)pdm09.
Schuchat said this season’s flu shot reduced a person’s risk of contracting influenza by about one-third. “But even if you get the flu, you’re much less likely to have a severe case or be hospitalized,” said Azar, who compared getting children vaccinated against the flu to using a car seat and a seatbelt. The vaccine looks to be more effective in children, about 59%, according to Azar.
A new study published in the Journal of Immunology offers new insights as to why children are much more vulnerable. Results suggest that an exaggerated inflammatory response and not an inability to control viral replication, is responsible for severe influenza A virus infection (in young mice). The study also identified key inflammatory monocytes that may be central to acute lung injury secondary to influenza A virus infection in the young.
Older adults over 65 years of age are still the hardest hit demographic this flu season, with 294.9 per 100,000 population hospitalization, followed by adults ages 50 to 64 (72.8 per 100,000 population) and children aged 0 to 4 years (47.1 per 100,000 population).
