CDC Report: More Children Died Or Severely Sick Due To Flu Amid Declining Vaccination Rate

JAKARTA - The flu season has come with new challenges for children's health, especially amid the tendency to decline vaccination rates. Recently, a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that more children are now suffering from severe flu cases or even dying. An alarming number considering the most effective way to fight influenza is almost always called routine vaccination. This phenomenon demands the awareness of more parents and the wider community, so that prevention measures get their top priority in family daily life.

The CDC report, reported by Medical Daily, Monday, September 29, stated that the 2024-2025 flu season recorded a number of extreme events among children: 109 cases of children diagnosed with acute necroethic cephalopathy (Acute Maritime Encephalopathy, ANE), a very serious brain inflammation condition, after being infected with the influenza virus.

Other data shows that from the case of cephalopathy related to influenza whose vaccination status is known, 84 percent of these children have never been vaccinated. On the other hand, last year there were 280 deaths of infants and children due to flu complications, the highest number since the H1N1 pandemic in 2009 2010.

Child infection experts state that it is difficult to predict who will experience the most severe form of flu. So they recommend vaccination for all children aged at least six months and over as a preventive measure.

Ironically, amid the increased risk of complications, there has actually been a decrease in the number of influenza vaccinations. The CDC continues to encourage parents and health workers to maintain or increase flu immunization coverage. The Advisory Council for Immunization Practices (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, SCIP) has also recommended changing the COVID-19 immunization guidelines, but recommendations for the flu vaccine remain firm: all children aged six months and over should receive the annual vaccine.

The influenza vaccine helps prevent severe conditions such as pneumonia, secondary infection, or organ damage, including the brain in the ANE case.

If many children are seriously infected, the pressure on health facilities will increase, increase visits to hospitals, hospitalizations, and intensive care needs.

With more and more children being vaccinated, the risk of transmission to vulnerable people (babies, the elderly, people with chronic diseases) has also decreased.

The current decline in vaccination is a signal of an alarm that you should not be careless about the threat of seasonal disease. Protect the younger generation with awareness and preventive measures because children's health is the most valuable investment.