NEW YORK, 3rd May 2025 (WAM) -- More U.S. children have died this flu season than at any time since the swine flu pandemic 15 years ago, according to a federal report released Friday.
The 216 pediatric deaths recorded by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) eclipse the 207 reported last year, Associated Press reported. It’s the most since the 2009-2010 H1N1 global flu pandemic.
It’s a startlingly high number, given that the flu season is still going on. The final pediatric death tally for the 2023-2024 flu season wasn’t counted until autumn.
“This number that we have now is almost certainly an undercount, and one that, when the season is declared over, and they compile all the data, it’s almost certain to go up,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary of the American Academy of Pediatrics.