Amid Illinois flu surge, U.S. drops key childhood vaccine recommendations

In a move slammed by health experts, the federal government dropped the number of vaccines it recommends for children Monday — leaving immunizations like flu shots up to parents and doctors.

The shake-up comes as rates of influenza are climbing in suburban Cook County and across the state, authorities said Monday.

“Illinois is facing a significant winter surge in seasonal respiratory illnesses with flu activity at very high levels,” Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said in a statement. “Vaccinations remain the most effective tool to prevent severe illness from flu, COVID-19, and RSV.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control will continue to recommend shots for all children against 11 diseases, including diphtheria, polio, measles, mumps and whooping cough.

But the agency is no longer broadly recommending pediatric vaccines against illnesses such as influenza, rotavirus, COVID-19, RSV, hepatitis A, and hepatitis B. Instead, those shots are advised for certain high-risk groups or through “shared clinical decision making” by families and doctors.

Federal officials said the overhaul to the vaccine schedule won’t result in families losing access or insurance coverage for vaccines, but multiple professional medical organizations objected, saying fewer children would get shots resulting in more illness and deaths.

The change came after President Donald Trump in December asked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to review how peer nations approach vaccine recommendations and consider revising its guidance to align with theirs.

HHS said its comparison to 20 peer nations found that the U.S. was an “outlier” in both the number of vaccinations and the number of doses it recommended to all children. Officials with the agency framed the change as a way to increase public trust by recommending only the most important vaccinations for children to receive.

“This decision protects children, respects families, and rebuilds trust in public health,” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a statement Monday.

Physician groups disagreed.

“Today’s announcement by federal health officials to arbitrarily stop recommending numerous routine childhood immunizations is dangerous and unnecessary,” the Itasca-based American Academy of Pediatrics said in a statement.

“The longstanding, evidence-based approach that has guided the U.S. immunization review and recommendation process remains the best way to keep children healthy and protect against health complications and hospitalizations.”

The American Medical Association said it was “deeply concerned.” “Vaccination policy has long been guided by a rigorous, transparent scientific process,” said Dr. Sandra Adamson Fryhofer, an AMA trustee.

“Changes of this magnitude require careful review, expert and public input, and clear scientific justification. That level of rigor and transparency was not part of this decision.”

Flu hospitalizations up

Statewide, hospitalizations for flu nearly doubled last month, increasing from 2.3% of all admissions the week ending Dec. 20 to 5.2% the week ending Dec. 27, the IDPH reported.

The majority of patients are under age 18. Just under 22% of Illinoisans have received flu shots this year.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported the first death of a child from flu this season on Monday. Twelve children died in the 2024/2025 period.

Cook County Department of Public Health said hospital admissions associated with flu and COVID-19 are “dramatically increasing.”

· Daily Herald wire services contributed to this report.