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Severe 2024-2025 Flu Season Disproportionately impacted Older Adults,New Report Finds
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A new report underscores the meaningful health and economic toll of the 2024-2025 influenza season,especially among older Americans,highlighting the urgent need for targeted prevention strategies. The findings, published by Sanofi in collaboration with Marco del riccio, MD, assistant professor at the University of Florence in Italy, reveal a season of high severity and a disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) classified the 2024-2025 US influenza season as “high severity” for all age groups – the first such designation since the 2017-2018 season. From September 29, 2024, to August 30, 2025, a total of 56 million symptomatic illnesses were recorded nationwide. Assessing the true impact of influenza remains a challenge, though, as current surveillance systems frequently enough miss critical data points.
Disproportionate Impact on Older Adults
The data revealed a stark disparity in impact. Approximately 34% of all symptomatic illnesses – roughly 18.9 million cases – occured among adults aged 50 or older. Influenza-related deaths were estimated to range from 27,000 to 130,000 across the US.
hospitalizations were particularly concentrated among older adults, with 770,000 influenza-related admissions recorded during the season. A staggering 77% of these hospitalizations (approximately 590,000 cases) were among individuals aged 65 and older. The weekly hospitalization rate peaked at 13.5 per 100,000 in early February 2025 – the highest rate observed as the 2010-2011 season.
“Older adults generate the majority of influenza-related hospital costs not because their individual hospital stays are more expensive, but because they experience vastly higher rates of severe illness requiring hospital care,” the report stated. While the mean cost per hospitalization for low-risk adults aged 50 to 64 was $29,206 and $32,231 for high-risk adults in the same age group, and $25,113 for those aged 18 to 49, the overall system impact of those 65 and older is “far greater” due to their substantially higher hospitalization rates – 755.3 per 100,000 compared to 6.5 per 100,000 for those aged 18 to 49.
shifting Vaccine Strategies
In response to evolving viral strains, the Food and drug Management’s (FDA) Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee recommended a shift from quadrivalent to trivalent influenza vaccines in 2024. This change was prompted by the continued absence of the B/Yamagata lineage as the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) afterward endorsed this recommendation,making trivalent vaccines the standard for the 2024-2025 season.
ACIP also reiterated its recommendation that adults aged 65 years and older receive an age-appropriate vaccine. while 93% of influenza vaccines administered to this age group were preferentially recommended formulations,overall vaccine coverage remained low at 34%. Specifically, only 25% of adults aged 50 to 64 and 58% of those aged 65 and older received an influenza vaccine – falling short of the World Health Organization’s target of 75% vaccination rate.
Addressing Systemic Barriers to Vaccination
The report highlights that “local variability in infrastructure, provider practices, and vaccine availability-particularly in under-resourced regions or facilities-may limit the reach of these recommendations.” without targeted strategies to overcome these systemic barriers, a significant portion of high-risk adults will remain unprotected, despite clear national guidance.
The Need for Improved Surveillance
The authors acknowledge limitations in the data, noting that current reporting systems do not capture all cases, particularly asymptomatic infections or those who do not seek medical care. This likely resulted in an underestimation of the true burden of the 2024-2025 influenza season. Data on symptomatic cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are based on modeled estimates rather than exhaustive counts.
“These limitations highlight the need for improved, real-time data to fully quantify the health and economic burden
