ADPH investigating possible flu connection in two pediatric deaths
Alabama’s overall flu vaccination rate is about where it was last year, according to a state official.
Alabama-The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) is investigating two pediatric deaths possibly related to influenza.
Tracking flu cases and deaths is difficult, ADPH district health officer Dr. Wes Stubblefield said in an interview, because the state does not mandate case reports. The full scope of the current flu season will not be known until the federal government completes reporting later this year. However, the state is able to estimate influenza-like illnesses at any medical facility and patients diagnosed with flu, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) at an emergency department.
“Those are both open investigations, and there will be an investigation, and we will try to make a link between the flu and the death,” Stubblefield said.
The department’s tracking website is updated weekly, he said. As of Saturday, 7.54% of emergency department visits presented symptoms of a respiratory illness, a decrease from 10.76% the week prior. Of those, most tested positive for the flu, followed by RSV, then COVID.
As of Wednesday, about 763,600 Alabamians were vaccinated against the flu for the 2025-26 season, more than double the vaccinations reported in November, according to data from ADPH. The doses administered is about 9,000 less than the total administered in the 2024-25 season, according to data from ADPH.
“I was pleased that the numbers were at least similar,” Stubblefield said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) track flu cases more intensively than the state department, Stubblefield said. According to the CDC’s FluView, there had been at least 17 influenza deaths in Alabama as of Dec. 27.
There are many strains of the flu that circulate at different times throughout the season, Stubblefield said. According to the CDC’s FluView, all of Alabama’s reported flu cases have been of the A strain, which has multiple subtypes as well.
“If people want the flu vaccine, we try to tell them that the flu vaccine contains multiple strains of flu. We do know that multiple strains are circulating the United States,” Stubblefield said. “It is possible to get the flu twice in a season.”
