Flu deaths rise as anti-vaccine disinformation takes root

[suegeo]

https://stateline.org/2025/03/18/flu-deaths-rise-as-anti-vaccine-disinformation-takes-root/

Americans are facing the highest death toll from influenza since 2018, just as more people become vulnerable because of growing vaccine skepticism taking hold in statehouses and the Trump administration.

Flu-related deaths hit a seven-year high in January and February, the two months that usually account for the height of flu season, according to a Stateline analysis of preliminary federal statistics. There were about 9,800 deaths across the country, up from 5,000 in the same period last year and the most since 2018, when there were about 10,800.

Despite that, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has canceled or postponed meetings to prepare for next fall’s flu vaccine, when experts talk about what influenza strains they expect they’ll be battling. The cancellations raised protests from medical professionals and state and federal officials.

These Republican assholes messing with science. The rightwing nuts are weakening pandemic preparedness and undermining public confidence in vaccination efforts.

[we can do it]

1. Let the idiots kill themselves.

[Ocelot II]

2. They'll kill us too, if they stop making vaccines.