NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Flu season ravaged New York and particularly affected children, with 2024-2025 health department data reporting 25 young lives lost to flu-related causes, the most in the state’s recorded history.
“The best protection for these little ones is for all those around them to be up to date with the flu vaccine, which usually becomes available in September,” State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said in a statement. “Of the 25 deaths we saw among children this year, only one was vaccinated and five were too young to receive the vaccine.”
Children need to be at least 6 months old to receive the vaccine, and health officials encourage parents to get their annual flu shot and to vaccinate their kids who are over that threshold.
“Misinformation around vaccines has in recent years contributed to a rise in vaccine hesitancy and declining vaccination rates,” McDonald said. “Vaccines are the best protection we have, and do save lives, including the lives of very young children who are too young to receive certain vaccines.”
The flu vaccination rate for U.S. children has plummeted from about 64% five years ago to 49% this season.
The impact of the past flu season on children was consistent nationwide, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recording 216 pediatric deaths in the U.S., the highest number since the 2009-2010 H1N1 global flu pandemic. Last year’s child death count was 207.
“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.
McDonald said that Americans are living in a challenging time, “where honest objective information is sometimes blurred by misinformation.”
He vowed that the goal of the state health department remains to provide as much information and education as possible to the public about the flu and other vaccines, which “remain our best protection against many viruses and preventable diseases.”
The past flu season is classified by the CDC as “high severity” overall for all age groups, and is the first high severity season in seven years.
Flu indicators have been waning as the season comes to an end, with all 50 states reporting low or minimum flu activity last week.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.