Severe pediatric flu complication on the rise, CDC data suggests

Cases of a rare, flu-related complication that causes brain inflammation among children are on the rise, a new CDC report suggests.

During the 2024-25 flu season, 109 children were diagnosed with influenza-associated encephalopathy, according to the report, which is based on cases clinicians and health departments confirmed with the CDC. There are several forms of IAE, the most severe of which is acute necrotizing encephalopathy, or ANE.

ANE — which can cause severe neurological symptoms and lead to brain damage — accounted for about one-third of the 109 reported cases during last year’s flu season. ANE has never been formally tracked because, historically, there were only a few cases per year. After receiving several reports of children who died after developing ANE in January, the CDC put out a request asking clinicians and health departments to formally notify the agency of any form of IAE. 

Of the 109 reported cases, 55% occurred among children who were previously healthy. Seventy-four percent of patients were admitted to the ICU and 19% died. Only 16% of affected children had received a flu vaccine, according to the report.

Last year’s flu season was also the deadliest for children in any non-H1N1 flu pandemic season since 2004, with 280 pediatric deaths reported.

The CDC recommends everyone 6 months and older receive an annual flu shot to prevent severe outcomes. During last year’s flu season, 49.2% of children ages 6 months to 17 years old got a flu shot. 

“We don’t always know how to predict which kids are going to have the most severe forms of flu, which is why we recommend the vaccine for everyone,” Buddy Creech, MD, a pediatric infectious disease physician at Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told NBC News. “It’s a misnomer to think that only sickly kids get complications from the flu.”

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