Griep killed 25 children in New York this season, most in many years

In the midst of the fall of vaccination rates, 25 children in the state of New York died during the 2024-25 Flu season – More than in a recent flu season, the state authorities said on Wednesday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that more than 47 million people throughout the country caught the flu between fall and spring and that more than 600,000 were admitted to the hospital. The hospitalization for flu is high It has been in 15 years.

A number of factors have probably contributed to the heavy toll of Influenza. Since the COVID-19 Pandemie, more people have chosen not to be vaccinated against the seasonal flu. And some researchers believe that the mix of tribes that are circulating this year are usually associated with more intense flu seasons.

This season, the CDC has attributed 216 pediatric deaths to the flu, a number that is expected to climb before the end of the season that withdraws. More than 10 percent of those deaths took place in the state of New York, which is home to less than 6 percent of the children of the country.

Of the 25 children who died of flu, only one was vaccinated, noted the State Health Commissioner, Dr. James V. McDonald, op. Five were too young to be vaccinated, he said in a statement. The flu vaccine is not approved for children under 6 months.

The decrease in flu vaccinations reflects An emerging tide of distrust of the scientific establishmentAs a result of which many people have questioned the safety or effectiveness of vaccines. Before the pandemic, the share of Americans that received an annual flu port Was slowly climbing.

In New York the story is a bit more complicated. Most children in New York City received a flu shot last season: one CDC estimateBased on a telephone survey, 75.7 percent of children older than 6 months had been vaccinated, a significant increase compared to the previous year.

Statewide was much lower the speed. According to the survey data, only 50 percent of the eligible children outside New York City have received their flu shot. That was in line with the national rate of 49 percent.

“In recent years, misinformation about vaccines has contributed to an increase in the hesitation of vaccine and falling vaccination rates,” Dr. McDonald.

Almost half of the deaths of the pediatric flu took place in New York City.

A spokeswoman for the State Health Department, Cadans Acquaviva, said that New York has become more rigorous in recent years in identifying deaths in children who can be attributed to the flu. Before 2021, the Ministry of Health mainly relied on passive reporting from doctors and hospitals, she said. Since then, the Department has also searched for other data, including death certificates, to identify matters. That may have increased New York’s share in deaths.

Dr. James Schneider, the chef of pediatric critical care at Cohen Children’s Medical Center on the eastern edge of Queens, said that although it was a “very busy year with flu”, this season did not seem particularly unusual.

“It didn’t really stand out like a big one,” he said.