What we learned from the last flu season

Last season was an experiment on what would happen if kids don’t get the flu vaccine. The vaccine rate in kids had been declining the last few years, but above 53% the prior year. This past 2024 to 2025 season, the vaccine rate droped to 49%. Here’s what we learned (from the CDC data). More kids died from flu infection this year than any other recent years. Usually, there are under 200 kids who die from the influenza virus or related complications (more on this later). In the 2024-2025 season, there were 281 deaths! 90% weren’t vaccinated, and half of these kids were totally healthy – no asthma or heart disease or immune problems.

What’s missing from the flu vaccine?

One common misguided concern from families is about what’s in the flu vaccine. Mercury! (There is none). Aluminum! (Most flu vaccines don’t even have this, the one that does has it in a teeny tiny amount, way less than what’s naturally in our foods and dirt and veggies). But, did you know, that in the last couple years, one ingredient was taken out? Where’s all the outrage and/or celebration when things are removed?!?!? Well, what was removed was the Yamagata strain of the influenza virus.

Since 2020, the Yamagata strain has been almost extinct, so the very smart scientists, who think very seriously about what to put in the flu vaccine each year, decided that there was no reason to add protection against the Yamagata strain in the 2023-2024 flu vaccine. The current vaccines also don’t have this strain. This is no rinse and repeat game. Every strain, every ingredient, is thoughtfully added based on studies and surveillance data.

The magic trick of getting the flu from the flu vaccine

Some people will tell me how sick they get every time they get the flu vaccine. While they might have an immune reaction that feels like symptoms of the flu infection or maybe they caught the virus around the time they got the flu vaccine, as it is flu season after all, it is impossible to get the flu infection from the flu vaccine injection. It’s kind of like saying that we can grow an apple tree from an apple slice. That would be some magic trick, huh? The flu vaccine is kind of like a slice from an apples. A bite gives the taster a clue to which type of apple, but the slice won’t turn into an apple tree. Likewise, the flu vaccine contains only parts of the flu virus that tell the body how to prepare to fight against those virus. But the flu vaccine parts don’t turn into a flu virus. Unless you are a magician or wizard, I suppose. But then you can just poof yourself to health again, so you wouldn’t need a flu vaccine anyway. Just kidding. Please get your flu vaccine, Dumbledore.

How the flu infection makes kids sick

Here are the top 3 reasons why the flu virus is problematic, even for kids who are healthy.

1. Causes leaky blood vessels that –> cause the blood pressure to drop that –> causes the body to shunt blood to the most important organs – the heart and the brain – that –> causes liver and kidney failure. I see dialysis machines. Maybe death, too.
2. Causes neurologic problems such as seizures, mental status change which persisted over 3 years, unbalanced walking, muscle weakness, plus a few deaths in this group. Scary.
3. The flu virus is super social. It invites all the bacteria to the party! The flu virus causes our immune system to be less effective, so bacteria that normally doesn’t infect the body gets it’s chance. And, it hangs out in weird places that infections don’t normally happen. Not just an ear infection, but a bone infection. Not just a pneumonia, but pneumonia in multiple parts of the lungs. All these infections can also cause problem 1 above.

While the flu vaccines doesn’t 100% prevent a flu infection, the vaccine drastically decreases the risk of these terrible problems and the risk of death. The vaccine also protects kids from school absences during the fall and winter season and it decreases the number of PTO days parents need to take to take care of their sick kids.

Flu vaccine is safe and effective

The flu vaccine is safe and effective. Let’s try to keep our kids healthy and in school, okay? If you haven’t scheduled a flu vaccine for your kids, this is your sign to CALL the doctor’s office today and ask about scheduling it.