Off the Sidelines: Why This Year’s Flu Vaccine Is a Game-Changer for Kids
Written by Marc Mazade, M.D., MPH, medical director of Infection Control and Prevention at Cook Children's
My high school basketball coach insisted that we get a flu vaccine every year. He knew that flu is much more than just a cold.
Flu is like getting hit by a train. He knew that recovery could take a couple of weeks.
Flu vaccines might make you feel bad for a day, but feeling bad is a sign that our immune systems are working. That’s much better than getting knocked out of the game, missing a week of band competition, missing the big trip, or staying in bed while others exchange holiday gifts and treats.
Flu season can run from November to May, so getting the flu vaccine in fall provides the longest protection from flu.
During the last flu season, nearly 6,000 kids came to the emergency department and nearly 600 kids were hospitalized with flu at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth (some would say an average season).
Keeping folks out of the hospital is the main benefit of getting a flu vaccine, but not the only one. Because flu is passed between friends at school then spreads to family members, immunizing kids is key to controlling flu outbreaks.
Closing hard-hit schools worsens hospital staff shortages as working parents must take off work to be with their kids, even when their kids aren’t sick. That can mean longer waiting times for patients and more shifts for exhausted health care workers.
In 2025, the seasonal flu story got more interesting. An escape virus erupted onto the scene like a flash fire!
Scientists found that “Subclade K” is a strain of influenza A (H3N2) that binds better to the membranes in our noses and is less sensitive to some antibodies (stuff that Infectious Diseases doctors love to chat about).¹ Improved viral fitness means that chances are good that this escape virus will keep coming back until it is knocked off by a more fit flu strain.
A big question last year was, “How effective are influenza vaccines going to be against the escape virus?”
Thankfully, vaccine protection against hospitalization was pretty good, even among adults. But something extraordinary happened in kids who took the vaccine. While the vaccine protected adults against mild, moderate and severe flu only 32-39% of the time, kids were protected 70-79% of the time.
It seems that children get more “bang for the buck” from influenza vaccine than adults. Also, for those who were not exposed to flu last year, this year’s influenza vaccines provide better protection against the escape virus.
My coach made sure we got our flu shots because he didn’t want us watching from the sidelines. Years later, the science supports that same advice. Children receive remarkable protection from influenza vaccination, helping them avoid serious illness, stay out of the hospital and remain where they belong: in school, with their friends and families, and in the game.
¹Al-Natour, L.M. 16 June 2026. Emerging Influenza A (H3N2) Subclade K: A narrative review. Natural Resources for Human Health, 6(3s). Pages 678-687. https://nrfhh.com/index.php/journal/article/view/522
