BATON ROUGE — A child from Louisiana has died from seasonal influenza, according to a state official’s confirmation of a weekly report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
No additional information was provided on the fatal pediatric case, including the date of death, the location or age of the child. Louisiana has reported five deaths related to the flu for the 2025-26 season, with the previous four cases involving adults.
Louisiana is among 48 states with levels of flu cases the CDC has deemed “very high.” For the current flu season, the agency has estimates there have been 11 million flu cases, 120,000 related hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths attributed to the virus.
Though the seasonal flu vaccine has turned out to be a poor match for the current prevalent influenza strain, A(H3N2), physicians still recommend obtaining the shot because it can reduce symptoms for those who contract the virus.
MORE: Louisiana reporting some of the highest flu activity in the U.S.
MORE: CDC says Louisiana among highest flu activity in the U.S.
For the past two years, former state surgeon general Dr. Ralph Abraham has declined to promote the flu vaccine in Louisiana or have the state health department host events where the vaccine is made available. Abraham now holds the No. 2 position at the Centers for Disease Control.
Abraham followed the lead of U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in crafting policy that requires patients to consult with a doctor before receiving the flu vaccine, moving away from having the shots readily available at health clinics and pharmacies.
“Maybe that’s a better thing,” Kennedy told CBS News in an interview Wednesday when told fewer people are likely to receive a flu vaccine. He cited research that claims the flu vaccine hasn’t prevented serious illness among children.
Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control removed the vaccines for flu, COVID, rotavirus, meningitis, and hepatitis A and B from the recommended vaccination schedule for children. However, the CDC recommends that 6 months and older get an annual flu vaccine in its weekly flu surveillance update.
Flu cases have historically increased in the early weeks of winter following the holiday season, and CDC data show that trend holding firm to start 2026. National numbers for the final week of December showed patients ages 5 to 17 accounted for the largest share of emergency department flu diagnoses at 21%, followed by newborns to 4-year-olds at 18%. Case numbers were on the rise across all age ranges.
More than 7% of roughly 3,500 emergency room visits in Louisiana for the week ending Dec. 13 were related to the flu, according to state health department data. Children ages 5 to 11 accounted for nearly 25% of those visits, followed by 2- to 4-year-olds (23%), ages 12 to 17 (15%), newborn to 1-year-olds (15%), adults 18 to 64 (5%) and patients 65 and older (2%).
Flu vaccine rates generally are highest among senior citizens, followed by younger adults.
Editor’s Note: The following article from author Greg LaRose was originally published by the Louisiana Illuminator, an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization with a mission to cast light on how decisions in Baton Rouge are made and how they affect the lives of everyday Louisianians.
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