US flu season claims 1,500 US lives, including 9 children: CDC

The flu is sweeping through New York and across the U.S. — and it claimed the lives of five children in the days leading up to Christmas.

Positive tests rose 12% for the week ending Dec. 21, according to data released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — meaning more than 12,000 people across the country were hospitalized from virus, compared to 9,000 a week ago.

“It’s been growing at a pretty steady rate now for the last few weeks. So yes, we’re certainly in flu season now,” said Alicia Budd, an epidemiologist in the CDC’s Division of Influenza.

This season, the flu has already claimed the lives of nearly 1,500 people across the country, including nine children. Five youth deaths were recorded between 15 and 21 December.

Another 3.1 million people have reported getting the flu, resulting in at least 37,000 hospitalizations, according to the CDC.

No particular strain seems to be dominating right now, but Budd cautioned that it’s too early in the season to know how well the flu vaccine will end up fighting the virus.

Although cases are increasing in all regions and in all age groups across the country, outbreaks have been particularly explosive in 13 states this week, including Tennessee, Oregon and Louisiana.

New York State saw a second straight week of widespread flu activity — marking an 86% increase over the previous week, according to state Department of Health data.

At least 16,043 tested positive for the virus in the week ending Dec. 21, and 648 were hospitalized.

Fifteen explosions were reported at hospitals and five more at nursing homes, bringing the total of explosions inside such medical facilities statewide this season to 68.

The recent surge in cases prompted the CDC to announce Dec. 20 as the start of the 2024-2025 flu season and urge those over 6 months of age to get vaccinated against the virus.

“Flu vaccines vary in how they work from season to season, but during seasons when the vaccine viruses are similar to the circulating viruses, vaccination has been shown to reduce the risk of flu illness by 40 percent and reduce the risk of hospitalization related to the flu. by 60 percent,” the federal agency said last week.

CDC experts pointed to a lull in vaccinations for the 205 flu-related pediatric deaths last year — the highest number ever reported for the conventional flu season.

Among children who died last season who were old enough for flu shots — and for whom their vaccination status was known — 80% were not fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

Vaccine rates for children are even lower this year. As of December 7, only 41% of adults and children, respectively, had received the flu shot.

Those rates reflect the same numbers for adults last year, but mark a 3% drop in the amount of children who were vaccinated last year, according to CDC data.

CDC operates a website to help find places to get flu shots at vaccines.gov.