--- title: CDC: Flu Reaches Epidemic Levels With 15 Child Deaths description: This season's flu strain has mutated and made vaccines less effective canonical: https://time.com/3651142/flu-influenza-cdc-epidemic/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-31T16:31:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:02:24.687Z article:section: Health og:title: CDC: Flu Reaches Epidemic Levels With 15 Child Deaths og:description: This season's flu strain has mutated and made vaccines less effective og:url: https://time.com/3651142/flu-influenza-cdc-epidemic/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd67ffddfabf8ac96/698777c32dce016afe9dcb97/462668573.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Flu Outbreak Continues In Bay Area og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: CDC: Flu Reaches Epidemic Levels With 15 Child Deaths twitter:description: This season's flu strain has mutated and made vaccines less effective twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd67ffddfabf8ac96/698777c32dce016afe9dcb97/462668573.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Flu Becomes an Epidemic in the U.S. With 15 Child Deaths > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=70a8b9c7-76ac-4bb8-b9e6-4ddcb7631df1&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Why The CDC Just Declared A Flu Epidemic [Watch (HLS stream): Why The CDC Just Declared A Flu Epidemic](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RhEMPzfx.m3u8) (1:46)  _Published 2014-12-31. This year's flu strain mutated away from experts' predictions, making the flu shot not as effective. That's not necessarily a reason to not get one._  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Dec 31, 2014 4:31 PM UTC  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Dec 31, 2014 4:31 PM UTC The flu virus has officially reached epidemic levels in the United States, according to [the latest data](http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/summary.htm) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Influenza has become widespread in 36 states, and almost 7% of all deaths in the U.S. during the week of Dec. 15 were due to pneumonia and influenza, the CDC [said](http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/summary.htm). Officials calculate that a total of 15 children have now died over the course of this flu season. The CDC continues to recommend flu vaccinations for anyone over the age of six months even though this year’s strain has mutated rendering the vaccine less effective than public health officials had hoped. ## Transcript The CDC says the flu virus crossed into being an epidemic this past week. Combined with a flu shot that's already been declared not as effective as most years. The agency has warned this flu season could be a severe one. In it's weekly FluView report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that 22 states mostly in the mid- west and southeast. Reported a high level of influenza activity. Some other numbers to know. The CDC said the flu is widespread in 36 states, 15 children have died from the flu so far this season, and the total number of deaths attributed to the flu hit 6. 8 % this past week. That's the exact percentage where the CDC [ INAUDIBLE ]. Declares an epidemic. This year's predominant strain is the H3N2 virus, which caused harsh flu seasons as recently as two years ago. So, why aren't we as protected by the flu shot as most years? What they're finding is in that the predominant virus, at least early on. It has drifted, or become different, from what they had predicted. By the time they knew that it had mutated to this extent, it was really too late to change the vaccine. They figured this out around March. That's too late for a vaccine that really comes out in October. You'll be hard- pressed to find a medical professional, however, who says to take this year off when it comes to getting a shot. Because they say some coverage is better than no coverage. The summary of the CDC's weekly report says more states will likely fall into that high activity category soon. And rather bluntly advises, if you have not been vaccinated yet this season ,. Get vaccinated now. The head of Johns Hopkins' Office of Epidemiology and Infection Prevention pointed out children and the elderly are more susceptible. 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