As flu season approaches, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a report stating that more children are severely ill or dying from the flu.
Cases of pediatric ANE (acute necrotizing encephalopathy, an inflammatory brain disease caused by the flu) and other flu-related encephalopathies are increasing. During the 2024-25 flu season, 109 children were diagnosed with this rare complication, according to new data from the CDC, Erika Edwards reported for NBC News.
The new report stated that 84 percent of children with influenza-associated encephalopathy, with known vaccination status, were unvaccinated, Edwards wrote. “The finding comes as the nation logged 280 pediatric flu deaths last year, the deadliest ever aside from the 2009-10 H1N1 pandemic, as well as falling rates of children vaccinated against influenza.”
“All children are at risk for severe neurologic complications of influenza,” the CDC wrote in its report. “Annual influenza vaccination is recommended for all children aged over 6 months to prevent influenza and associated complications.”
Furthermore, the CDC cautioned, “Healthcare providers should consider IAE (influenza-associated encephalopathy) in children with encephalopathy or altered level of consciousness and a recent or current febrile illness when influenza viruses are circulating.”