Friday 09/January/2026 – 07:01 AM
The United States witnessed a state of increasing anxiety after recording a rise in child deaths as a result of infection with a new strain of influenza, dubbed in the media as the “super influenza,” coinciding with a significant increase in infection rates and hospitalizations in a wide number of states, according to the Daily Mail.
Child deaths due to superflu influenza rise in the United States
Health authorities in the state of Massachusetts announced the death of four children since the beginning of the current influenza season, including two children under the age of two in the city of Boston, an age group considered most vulnerable to serious complications due to incomplete development of the immune system. In the state of Illinois, the Ministry of Health confirmed the death of a fifth child during the same season.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, influenza activity has reached very high levels in 32 US states, with hospital admissions increasing by 54 percent compared to the previous week.
Statistics also showed that one in three influenza tests returned a positive result, compared to one in four last week, an increase of 76 percent compared to the same period last year.
Health experts warned of the new strain known as H3N2 subclade K, stressing that it causes more severe symptoms in children compared to traditional strains.
Symptoms include a high fever that may last for long days, a severe cough that affects breathing, in addition to vomiting, diarrhea, and muscle and joint pain.
Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner, Dr. Robbie Goldstein, said that this strain may be life-threatening, noting that critical cases have been recorded among children and increased pressure on hospitals, especially emergency and intensive care departments.
Among the poignant cases was the death of a 16-year-old teenager in Ohio, a few days after displaying regular flu-like symptoms, before her condition suddenly deteriorated as a result of serious complications that included blood poisoning and double pneumonia. Other deaths of two children were also recorded in the states of Alabama and Kentucky.
Health authorities have confirmed that the majority of current infections are due to influenza A, which can be prevented through the annual vaccine, whose effectiveness ranges between 30 percent and 75 percent. As of mid-December, about 42 percent of adults in the United States had received the influenza vaccine, a percentage close to last year’s rates.
