Two young children are dead from flu complications in Boston, city officials said yesterday, noting that these are the first pediatric flu deaths in the city since 2013.
The two children were both under the age of 2 years; earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said nine pediatric influenza deaths had been recorded so far in the 2025-26 flu season as of January 5, before the two deaths in Boston were confirmed.
“Flu cases are surging in Boston, and we are seeing an uptick in serious cases involving children, including the tragic deaths of two very young children,” said Bisola Ojikutu, MD, MPH, commissioner of public health for the city of Boston, in a press release “While the flu is usually mild, it can cause hospitalization and death. Children under the age of two are at higher risk. Parents should get their children ages six months and older vaccinated as soon as possible to decrease the risk of severe complications.”
While the flu is usually mild, it can cause hospitalization and death. Children under the age of two are at higher risk.
Between December 14 to December 27, Boston reported a 126% increase in confirmed flu cases, and hospitalizations almost tripled. Massachusetts has now reported four pediatric flu deaths so far this season.
Other states have raised the alarm this week that flu activity is high. In South Carolina, health officials said there were nine flu-associated deaths in the last week of December, raising the total to 16 deaths in the state for the 2025-26 season.
High percentage of clinic visits for fever, sore throat
The CDC said that, nationwide, at least 11 million people have had the flu this season, 120,000 have been hospitalized for flu, and 5,000 people have died. The CDC is classifying this flu seasons as “moderately severe.”
Most of the flu activity is being driven by a strain of influenza A(H3N2) called subclade K, which caused early and high activity in Asia and the United Kingdom this fall. Experts warnedthat subclade K was a mismatch for the current influenza vaccines, but recent preprint papers on medRxiv suggest the current vaccine does elicit antibodies, and should provide at least some protection against infection and severe illness.
One of the most telling markers of high influenza activity is outpatient clinic visits for influenza like illness (ILI). The CDC said 8.2% of patient visits reported through an ILI surveillance network were due to respiratory illness that included fever plus a cough or sore throat in the week ending on December 27.
The percentage of ILI visits has been above the national baseline of 3.1% for four consecutive weeks. Forty-eight health jurisdictions are reporting “high” or “very high” influenza activity.
As of December 27, 2025, 42.5% of children in the United States had received a flu vaccination, the CDC said, which was similar to last season at this same time point (43.5%).
On Monday, the CDC said pediatric seasonal influenza deaths were no longer routinely recommended for all children 6 months and older in the United States, and instead suggested vaccine uptake should be decided via “shared clinical decision-making” between health care providers and parents.
Many experts fear the move will push pediatric flu vaccine rates even lower.
