2025 Flu Vaccine Effectiveness

Effectiveness Against Severe Outcomes

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that the influenza vaccine is effective in reducing mortality, with a vaccine effectiveness against influenza-associated death in children of 65% overall and 51% in children with underlying conditions 1
Historically, up to 80% of influenza-associated pediatric deaths occur in unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated children, emphasizing the importance of vaccination in this population 1, 2
Influenza vaccination prevented an estimated 116 deaths in children aged 6 months through 17 years during the 2022-2023 season 1
Vaccination reduces life-threatening influenza illness by 75% in children 1

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that vaccine effectiveness in children aged 6 months to 8 years ranges from 34-59% depending on the circulating strain 3
Children younger than 5 years (especially under 2 years) and those with underlying conditions face the highest risk of complications, making them priority vaccination targets 1, 2, 4

The CDC recommends that children and adults in high-risk categories, including those with chronic pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, and immunosuppression, should be prioritized for vaccination 4, 5, 6
Children under 5 years, especially those under 2 years, and adults 65 years and older are at increased risk of complications and should be prioritized for vaccination 7

The CDC notes that antibiotic prescription rates in ambulatory children decline by 3 per 1000 person-months for each 1% increase in vaccination coverage 1
Vaccination reduces influenza-associated otitis media in young children by approximately 30% 8
Decreased work absenteeism and healthcare resource utilization occur when vaccine and circulating strains are well-matched 9, 8

The CDC recommends that vaccination should not be delayed to obtain a specific product—when multiple appropriate products exist, any licensed vaccine is acceptable 5, 6
Only inactivated or recombinant vaccines should be used in patients with chronic pulmonary conditions—never live attenuated (nasal spray) 10

The CDC advises against assuming prior vaccination provides multi-year protection—annual vaccination is required due to antigenic drift and waning immunity 10
Delaying vaccination in high-risk patients waiting for "optimal timing" is not recommended, as the risk of missing vaccination entirely outweighs timing concerns 10
Racial and ethnic disparities should not be overlooked, as Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native children have 3-4 fold higher influenza-associated in-hospital deaths 5, 6

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all influenza vaccines available in the United States during the 2025-26 season will be trivalent vaccines containing Influenza A/Victoria/4897/2022 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus, Influenza A/Thailand/8/2022 (H3N2)-like virus, and Influenza B/Austria/1359417/2021 (Victoria lineage)-like virus 11
The influenza A (H3N2) vaccine component for the 2024-2025 season was updated from the previous year, while the influenza A (H1N1) and influenza B Victoria lineage remain unchanged 11, 12

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children receiving influenza vaccine for the first time or who received only 1 dose before July 1, 2024, should receive 2 doses at least 4 weeks apart 11
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all other children should receive 1 dose of influenza vaccine 11

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that vaccination should ideally be received by the end of October for optimal protection before influenza season peaks 11
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children recommended to receive 2 doses should start vaccination as soon as vaccine becomes available 11

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that immunocompromised patients should use only inactivated (IIV) or recombinant (RIV) vaccines—never live attenuated (LAIV/nasal spray) 11