September 9, 2021 – Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control for the provisional death counts for COVID-19 suggests that deaths involving influenza have been at zero since July 2021. However, even in July, there was only one death in the 0-17 age range involving influenza. This year, the CDC has only reported nine deaths related to influenza. Is the flu disappearing from the 0-17 age range altogether?
Interestingly, the data also shows that COVID-19 deaths in the 0-17 age range are a fraction of what occurs in a typical flu season, which is about 400 pediatric flu deaths per year. Specifically, the Delta variant (in July and August) has resulted in 57 deaths in the 0-17 age range, the highest number since January. While the Delta variant is more contagious and dangerous for kids in this age range, it is interesting to see the death rates compared to the typical flu season.
In March, The Washington Post reported that the flu was “circulating at such low levels that officials know of only one child in the United States who has died of it this flu season, a striking deviation from the dozens of pediatric deaths in other recent years.”
In the Post report, Flor Munoz, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ infectious diseases committee, said, “I think that obliteration of the flu epidemic, which was seen globally, tells us that the way that influenza is transmitted from one person to another might really have been impacted by the use of masks, more than anything else.”
Even if influenza is disappearing from this age range, experts are still highly recommending flu vaccines for the upcoming season. Despite the low rate of death in this age range, flu season can still be hard to predict.