Research suggests severity of flu season was high for children, teens in 2022 to 2023

For children and adolescents, the 2022 to 2023 influenza season had high severity, according to research published in the Oct. 13 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Elizabeth B. White, Ph.D., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues describe the 2022 to 2023 influenza season among children and adolescents aged younger than 18 years, including seasonal severity.

The researchers found that compared with thresholds based on previous seasons' influenza-associated outpatient visits, hospitalization rates, and deaths, the 2022 to 2023 influenza season had high severity among children and adolescents.

Compared with previous seasons, the incidences of influenza-associated outpatient visits and hospitalization for the 2022 to 2023 season were similar for children aged younger than five years and higher for those aged five to 17 years. Late November and early December saw peak influenza-associated outpatient and hospitalization activity.

Compared with the previous season, a lower proportion of children and adolescents hospitalized with influenza during the 2022 to 2023 season in hospitals participating in the Influenza Hospitalization Surveillance Network were vaccinated (18.3 versus 35.8 to 41.8%). Receipt of influenza antiviral treatment was lower among symptomatic hospitalized patients than during pre-COVID-19-pandemic seasons (64.9 versus 80.8 to 87.1%).

"The 2022–23 influenza season was classified as high severity for children and adolescents based on influenza-associated outpatient visits, hospitalization rates, and deaths," the authors write. "All persons aged ≥6 months are recommended by CDC to receive the annual seasonal influenza vaccine, ideally by the end of October."