For many families, the flu is something they expect to ride out with a few days of rest and chicken soup. But doctors are warning that, for some children, the virus is turning deadly, and the numbers are climbing. Pediatric flu deaths have hit a 15-year high and the CDC is urging vaccination. 

Christine Wear, a mom from River Forest, Illinois, knows that reality all too well. Her 4-year-old son Beckett is still recovering months after his brush with a rare complication of the flu. “Anxieties are high,” Wear admits. “We’re trying to navigate what life should look like without being in a bubble.”

Beckett was diagnosed with acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE), a severe form of brain inflammation triggered by influenza. It was his second time facing the illness, and recovery has been slow. “It has taken longer for his brain to recover,” Wear explains.

According to a new CDC report, Beckett’s story is part of a troubling trend. During the 2024-25 flu season, doctors saw 109 pediatric cases of influenza-related encephalopathy spike. The season also recorded 280 child flu deaths, the highest in 15 years outside of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.

“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,” Dr. Buddy Creech, pediatric infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center tells NBC News in a recent interview. “It’s a misnomer to think that only sickly kids get complications from the flu.”

Influenza-associated encephalopathy (IAE) attacks the nervous system and can cause confusion, hallucinations, seizures, or problems walking. “Flu is dangerous for children, period,” stresses Dr. Keith Van Haren, pediatric neurologist at Stanford Medicine and co-author of the study. “That is not a mischaracterization.”

CDC data showed:
• 74% of kids with IAE needed intensive care.
• 54% were placed on ventilators.
• 19% died.

Dr. Molly Wilson-Murphy of Boston Children’s Hospital, another author of the study, says she was struck by how many cases she saw firsthand this year. “We don’t know in real numbers if this is an increase, but I will tell you, being on the ground, being a physician who cares for these patients, I was certainly struck that this was an increase.”
The flu shot isn’t perfect at preventing infection, but it does lower the risk of hospitalization and death. Last year, it was up to 78% effective in keeping kids with the flu out of the hospital. Yet vaccination rates are sliding.

CDC data shows only 49.2% of children got their flu shot last season, down sharply from 62.4% in 2019-20.

“The best way to protect yourself and your family from influenza is for everyone to get vaccinated,” says Dr. Sean O’Leary of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He points out that 90% of children who died from the flu last year hadn’t been vaccinated.

Experts recommend children get their shot by the end of October, ahead of peak flu season. Looking at Australia’s current flu season, where the vaccine cut hospitalizations in half, doctors say the shot’s benefits are clear.

Dr. O’Leary adds that falling vaccination numbers aren’t just about hesitancy. “A lot of families are experiencing access to care issues,” he notes. “And a lot of practices are experiencing significant staffing issues. They might not be able to have large flu clinics after hours or on Saturdays.”

Doctors stress that while rare complications like ANE may grab headlines, even a “typical” flu infection can become serious without warning. That’s why widespread vaccination matters, not only for children with chronic conditions, but for healthy kids as well.

As Dr. Creech puts it, “Our goal as parents and doctors is to keep kids healthy and to help protect kids who are at risk from getting sicker. Vaccination against the flu is the purest, best, simplest way to do that.”