--- title: The Widespread Flu Has Killed 30 Children description: 30 U.S. children have died from influenza-related causes so far this flu season, says the CDC, and some of them were perfectly healthy. canonical: https://time.com/5113281/flu-death-toll-children-2018/ author: Amanda MacMillan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-22T22:10:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:06:10.173Z article:section: Health og:title: At Least 30 Children Have Died From This Season's Flu. Some of Them Were Perfectly Healthy og:description: Here's how that compares to previous years, and what parents need to know og:url: https://time.com/5113281/flu-death-toll-children-2018/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88ba24d07ebf5af1/6988f88bcf40a800a0c4af98/nico-mollozzi.jpg?branch=production&width=1000&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1000 og:image:height: 563 og:image:alt: Nico-Mollozzi og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: At Least 30 Children Have Died From This Season's Flu. Some of Them Were Perfectly Healthy twitter:description: Here's how that compares to previous years, and what parents need to know twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88ba24d07ebf5af1/6988f88bcf40a800a0c4af98/nico-mollozzi.jpg?branch=production&width=1000&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 01:49 video:published: 2018-01-18 section: health topics: flu, influenza season, illness, public health, seasonal outbreak, transcript quality issues genre: explainer tones: informational, urgent, uncertain emotions: concern (low), curiosity (low), confusion (medium) sentiment: negative audience: general public, news viewers, health-conscious viewers content_suitability: health controversy [00:27-01:49] transcript_source: automatic transcription transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # At Least 30 Children Have Died From This Season's Flu. Some of Them Were Perfectly Healthy > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. 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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=e49e6566-4e76-4a79-b4a1-f3bea1ddf99b&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Here's Why the Flu Is Especially Bad This Year [Watch (HLS stream): Here's Why the Flu Is Especially Bad This Year](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ityYoAe6.m3u8) (1:49)  _Published 2018-01-18. Here's Why the Flu Is Especially Bad This Year_ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The available transcript for this video is largely garbled and repetitive, so almost no substantive content can be recovered. The only intelligible fragments are phrases that echo the video's title about the flu being especially bad this year. No specific facts, statistics, speakers or explanations can be reliably extracted. The metadata below reflects only what the transcript text actually contains. ## Key points - The transcript repeatedly contains the garbled phrase 'Hy on Hy on Hy', which carries no recoverable meaning. (00:00) - A fragment reading 'Here's Why, Flu Is Eshaft' appears, suggesting the video turns to the topic of flu. (00:27) - A fragment reads 'Especially Bad This Year, Here's Why', indicating the video frames the flu as especially bad. (01:19) - The phrase 'Here's Why, Flu Is' recurs with corrupted endings near the close of the video. (01:27) - The closing transcript lines repeat the 'Here's Why, Flu Is' fragment without any intelligible explanation. (01:33) - No causes, statistics, symptoms or advice about the flu are legible anywhere in the transcript. (00:00) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:27] Garbled opening audio. The opening lines consist of repetitive, unintelligible text with no recoverable content. - [00:27 to 01:49] Fragmentary flu references. Corrupted fragments referring to the flu and 'here's why' recur through the rest of the transcript. ## Key quotes - [00:27] unknown: "Here's Why, Flu Is Eshaft" - [01:19] unknown: "Anees Especially Bad This Year, Here's Why, Flu Is Esтории" - [01:33] unknown: "Here's Why, Flu Is Esтории" ## Questions this video answers - Does the video address the flu? [00:27] - Does the video describe the flu as especially bad this year? [01:19] - Does the video promise an explanation of why the flu is bad? [01:27] ## Content suitability - health controversy [00:27-01:49]: The video touches on the flu being especially bad, but the transcript is too corrupted to confirm any specific health claims. by [Amanda MacMillan](https://time.com/author/amanda-macmillan/) ## Amanda MacMillan Jan 22, 2018 10:10 PM UTC  Nico Mallozzi. Nico Mallozzi. Photo courtesy of Mimma Mallozzi by [Amanda MacMillan](https://time.com/author/amanda-macmillan/) ## Amanda MacMillan Jan 22, 2018 10:10 PM UTC Thirty children have died from confirmed influenza-related causes so far this flu season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) most recent [weekly report](https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/), released last Friday. The total includes deaths between Oct. 16 and Jan. 13. CDC Director Brenda Fitzgerald has described the 2017-2018 flu season as “very active,” and has said that much of the country is experiencing [“widespread and intense flu activity.”](http://time.com/5108077/2018-flu-map/) During a [Jan. 12 press update](https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2018/t0112-widespread-flu-activity.html), Fitzgerald said that influenza A, H3N2, has been the most common strain of flu virus reported this year. “These viruses are often linked to more severe illness, especially among children and people age 65 and older,” she said. Most children who get the flu do recover. But thousands are hospitalized every year, and some die from complications. The number of children killed by influenza-related causes per season has ranged over the last decade from a low of 37 (in 2011-2012) to a high of 288 (in 2009-2010). The current flu season is, so far, on track to be deadlier for children than the previous two. During last year’s flu season, 110 children died from the flu between November 2016 and September 2017, with 17 pediatric deaths reported through the second week of January last year. During the 2015-2016 flu season, 92 children died from the flu, with 10 child deaths by this point in the season. But there have also been worse seasons in recent years: Compared to the 30 deaths so far in 2017-2018, there were 255 child deaths reported by the same week in 2010\. The 2014-2015 flu season was also particularly dangerous, with a total of 148 pediatric deaths, 97 of which were reported by this time in 2015. Preliminary data suggests that this year’s flu season has [reached its peak](http://time.com/5107984/hospitals-handling-burden-flu-patients/) and is starting to decline, although experts say it’s too soon to know for sure. “If you assume we’re about halfway through the season, and you multiplied the 30 cases so far by two, that’s a relatively average year for pediatric deaths,” says Dr. Roberta DeBiasi, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at Children’s National Health System in Washington, D.C. “Having said that, we don’t want people to think this year is not dangerous — because each and every year, children do die.” Young people with chronic illnesses and compromised immune systems are at increased risk for serious complications of the flu. But about 40% of children who die from influenza every year have no preexisting conditions, DeBiasi says. “You really can’t reassure yourself that your child, who seems to be perfectly healthy, is not going to be a victim of the severe flu,” she says. That was the case with [10-year-old Connecticut boy Nico Mallozzi](http://time.com/5106819/nico-mallozzi-flu-death/), who died on Jan. 14 from sepsis resulting from pneumonia. “Ten years of health,” Nico’s mother told TIME last week. “He was like an ox.” Several otherwise healthy adults have died of flu-like illnesses in the last month, as well. [Kyle Baughman](http://time.com/5099042/influenza-deaths-flu/), a 21-year-old aspiring personal trainer from Pennsylvania, died in late December of flu-related organ failure, according to his family. Flu-related hospitalization rates have increased this month, as well, and a large percentage of those admitted have been children. On Jan. 12, Dr. Dan Jernigan, director of the CDC’s influenza’s division, said that hospitalizations for children under 5 had [“almost doubled in the last week.”](https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2018/t0112-widespread-flu-activity.html) A total of 8,990 confirmed flu-related hospitalizations have been reported to the CDC since Oct. 1, with the highest rates among adults 65 and up, followed by adults 50 to 64 and children under 5\. About 58% of children hospitalized for the flu had at least one underlying medical condition, such as asthma, a neurological disorder, obesity or cardiovascular disease. Ten of the 30 pediatric deaths confirmed so far this flu season were reported during the week ending Jan. 13, although several of them occurred in November and December. Since October, 21 pediatric deaths have been attributed to Influenza A (including H1N1 and H3N2) and nine deaths have been attributed to Influenza B. DeBiasi says that, like other hospitals around the country, Children’s National Health System has been hard-hit this year with flu cases. About 40% of children admitted this season have been sick enough that they need treatment in the hospital’s intensive-care unit, she says, often because they require respiratory assistance. She stresses that parents should take symptoms of the flu seriously and [get sick children to a doctor right away ](http://time.com/5106072/how-to-protect-child-from-flu/)— especially if they have a pre-existing condition or they’re under the age of 5\. Signs of flu in children can include a high fever, chills, body aches, extreme tiredness, cough and sore throat. Nausea, vomiting and diarrhea are also common in children with the flu, unlike adults. Doctors may not screen for the flu virus, she says, as the laboratory test isn’t always accurate; rather, they can make a probable diagnosis — and prescribe treatment — based on a physical exam. “If the flu is going around and you suspect your child has a respiratory illness and a fever, it’s more important to get treatment with an anti-viral than it is to get tested,” she says. Two antiviral medications, oseltamivir (brand name Tamiflu) and zanamivir (brand name Relenza) are approved for children. The most important thing parents can do to protect their children, says DeBiasi, is to make sure they get vaccinated every flu season. “It’s not perfect and it’s not 100% effective, but it’s the best thing we have,” she says, “and the flu vaccine is one of the safest, most vetted and most studied vaccinations there is.” “It’s really hard for me to see parents who didn’t vaccinate and now their child is in the ICU with the flu,” DeBiasi adds. “We don’t know if the vaccine would have prevented it, but it’s likely it would have at least ameliorated that child’s symptoms.” It’s like wearing your seatbelt, she says: “You may still get an injury in a crash and you may even die, but it will certainly help reduce the chances that something terrible is going to happen.” ## Transcript [00:51] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [01:08] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [01:40] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5113281/flu-death-toll-children-2018/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5113281/flu-death-toll-children-2018/"},"headline":"At Least 30 Children Have Died From This Season's Flu. 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