By Ethan Covey
During what the CDC is calling the worst flu season since 2017-2018, 13% of children who have died of influenza had influenza-associated encephalopathy or encephalitis (IAE), a severe neurologic complication.
As of Feb. 8, 2025, IAE was identified in nine of 68 children who died from influenza. This includes four children who were diagnosed with acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE) (MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2025;74[6]:91-95). All of the ANE deaths were in children younger than 5