News release
Although it might be a bit early to determine the severity of the upcoming flu season, local health care professionals say one thing is certain: Getting vaccinated against influenza offers you the best protection to prevent serious illness and hospitalization.
Although the flu vaccine is recommended for adults and kids age 6 months and older, it’s likely that children will be a group that will become more vulnerable to significant illness without being vaccinated during this upcoming flu season, infectious disease experts warn.
“It’s no secret that children, along with the elderly, are the most vulnerable to suffer from getting the flu and makes it that much more important for them to get the flu vaccine,” Dr. Andree Trompeta, a pediatrician with Kaiser Permanente in Santa Clarita, said in a news release. “For children who are averse to the flu vaccine due to fear or discomfort, a flu mist administered through the nose is also available that offers great protection against influenza.”
Trompeta noted the Food and Drug Administration has updated all three components of the upcoming 2026-27 flu vaccine to better reflect the strains expected to circulate, including changes prompted by viruses that spread widely last season. The CDC also expects an adequate vaccine supply.
In addition, evidence cited by the American Academy of Pediatrics indicates that flu vaccination among children reduces the risk of flu-related death in children and teens by about 80%, and prevents thousands of hospitalizations among children each season.
According to Trompeta, children are likely to be especially vulnerable this upcoming flu season due to several factors. The last flu season was severe for children, approximately 190 pediatric deaths were reported, and pediatric hospitalization rates were among the highest seen in many years.
Vaccination rates remain relatively low, and only about 49% of children aged 6 months to 17 years were vaccinated during the 2025-26 season, according to AAP reports.
Historically, roughly 85% of children who die from flu are unvaccinated, making vaccination coverage an important determinant of risk, the release said, adding that young children are inherently at higher risk.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identifies children younger than 5, especially those younger than 2, as being at an elevated risk for serious complications.
Children with asthma, diabetes, heart disease, immune suppression and other chronic conditions are also more vulnerable.
While many children experience a routine flu illness, complications can lead to pneumonia, dehydration, worsening asthma or other chronic diseases, encephalopathy (brain dysfunction), and, rarely, death.
AAP experts also note that children can experience severe neurological and cardiac complications.
