The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week reported two more pediatric flu deaths for the 2023-24 season, which matched the previous record high of 199 fatalities in kids during the 2019-20 flu season.

In a statement, the CDC provided a breakdown of flu vaccination status among the group. Of 158 children who were eligible to receive the vaccine and had known vaccination status, 131 (83%) were not fully vaccinated.

Half were in previously healthy kids

Among the fatal cases, 73 were younger than 5 years old and 126 were ages 5 to 17. Roughly half involved influenza A. Of those with known subtypes, 43 had H1N1 and 16 had H3N2. Three children died from coinfections involving both influenza A and influenza B. 

Of 189 kids with health status information, 93 (49%) had at least one underlying medical condition.

The CDC also noted a drop in flu vaccine uptake in kids for the 2023-24 season, with coverage 2.2 percentage points lower than the previous season and 8.5 percentage points lower than the prepandemic period. It also warned that vaccination disparities, such as urbanicity, race, and ethnicity, are worsening.

The CDC said any number of children’s flu deaths is a deeply tragic reminder that flu can cause severe illness and deaths, with the risk highest in those with certain underlying health conditions. The group has recommended annual flu vaccination for everyone 6 months and older and that children ages 6 months to 8 years old who have never received two flu shots before need two doses given 4 weeks apart. 

The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) said yesterday that it, along with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH), has completed H5N1 avian flu testing of all 95 licensed dairy farms in the state, with no positive samples found.

In a statement, MDAR said it is the only state in the nation to test all dairy herds and find no evidence of H5N1 infection. 

Massachusetts officials said they decided to test all herds to protect public health and to demonstrate the safety of the food supply from the state’s farms. MDAR inspectors visited the dairies in August to collect samples from bulk-milk tanks. The DPH worked with the Broad Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University to test samples at no cost to farmers.

A few states, including Colorado and California, have done bulk-milk tank testing as part of enhanced surveillance in outbreak settings.

USDA confirms another affected herd in California

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has confirmed one more H5N1 outbreak in dairy cattle, which involved another herd from California. The state now has 10 infected herds, which are all located in the Central Valley. 

The latest confirmation lifts the nation’s number of confirmed outbreaks to 208 across 14 states.

• China has reported another human case involving H9N2 avian influenza, its sixth of the year, according to the latest weekly avian influenza update from Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection. The patient is a 3-year-old girl from Guangdong province in the southern part of the country. Her symptoms began on August 12. No details were available about her condition or how she contracted the virus. H9N2 is a low-pathogenic virus in poultry in many countries, including China. Many of the earlier illnesses involved contact with poultry or poultry environments. The illnesses are often mild and often involve children. 
• The Florida Department of Health (Florida Health) recently issued a mosquito-borne illness advisory for Palm Beach County following the confirmation of a locally acquired dengue infection. The state typically reports sporadic local cases, and the latest case marks the first of the year from Palm Beach County. In its surveillance update last week, Florida Health reported 31 local cases from six counties this year, of which 21 were from Miami-Dade County. Other affected counties include Hillsborough, Manatee, Monroe, Orange, and Pasco.
• The National Institutes of Health has established a pandemic preparedness research network with a goal of developing vaccines and monoclonal antibodies, and the group recently announced award recipients to make up the Research and Development of Vaccines and Monoclonal Antibodies for Pandemic Preparedness (ReVAMPP) network. The group will focus on five virus families:  Bunyavirales, Flaviviridae, Flaviviridae, Picornaviridae, and Togaviridae. The Research Triangle Institute in Durham, NC, will coordinate the network, which also includes projects at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the University of California, Irvine, the University of Texas Medical Branch, the University of Washington, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and Washington University, St. Louis.