Pediatric Flu Deaths

Vincent Iannelli, MD

2 months ago

Now that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr‘s CDC has made getting your kids a yearly flu vaccine more confusing, let’s take a look at pediatric flu deaths.

After all, it is well known that nearly all of the kids who die with the flu are unvaccinated!

Wait, did you know that?

You should also know that dying with the flu is not rare…

On average, about 130 kids in the United States die with the flu each year.

Of course, there was nothing average about last year’s flu season, when 289 kids died!

And this year?

During the 2025-26 flu season, there have been many media reports of pediatric flu deaths, including:

an unvaccinated child in Kenton County, Kentucky, died with the flu (Dec 2025)
a child in Sacramento County, California, with no underlying health problems died with the flu (Dec 2025)
an unvaccinated teen in San Mateo County, California, died with the flu (Dec 2025)
a previously healthy unvaccinated teen in Ohio died with the flu (Jan 2026)
an unvaccinated two-year-old in New Jersey with no previous medical problems who died after developing a high fever and seizures (Jan 2026)
a previously healthy 4-year-old in Utah died with the flu (Jan 2026)
a preschool aged child in Virginia died with the flu (Jan 2026)
a school-age teenager in Snohomish County, Washington died with the flu (Jan 2026)

And unfortunately, flu season is far from over.

In addition to knowing that these flu deaths are not rare, you should know that these are:

These are very often previously healthy kids who are unvaccinated when they died with the flu!

So get vaccinated – it is not too late.