The 2024-25 flu season in San Diego County was one of the most severe in a decade for hospitalizations and deaths, according to local health officials.

As the county enters a new flu season on October, doctors are worried that the coming year could be just as bad, due in part to low and declining vaccination rates.

Last fiscal year, San Diego County recorded nearly 40,000 cases of the flu, while the previous five years averaged slightly more than 13,000 cases a year. These numbers come from the San Diego Epidemiology and Immunization Services branch of the county health department.

Unfortunately, the flu proved fatal for some of those people in the past year: 220 county residents died of the flu, compared with 63 deaths the previous year. Of those 220 deaths, 7 of those fatalities were children, up from 2 the previous year. That is the highest number of child deaths from flu in the county since 2009-10.

“It’s really a tragedy to have that many deaths, but really to have that many children impacted?” said Dr. Mark Beatty with Public Health Services. “Last year, there were a lot of teenagers who died, so it’s even more disheartening.”

Beatty said flu symptoms can come on suddenly and may include fever, chills, cough, sore throat, body aches, vomiting or diarrhea. People at increased risk are adults 65 years and older, children younger than 2, anyone with a chronic health condition and pregnant women.

“If you have immune-compromised conditions, that makes it harder for you to fight off infections,” Beatty said. “You are a person that is more likely to have severe flu symptoms if you have underlying conditions.”

County doctors believe the increase in flu cases and deaths is due in part to low and declining vaccination rates. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that the best way to prevent flu is for everyone 6 months and older to get a flu vaccine shot every year.

“Now is the time to get vaccinated, before the winter and increasing cases,” Beatty said. “We really see the ramping up of cases in … [the] months of November and December, so to get the most effectiveness out of the vaccine, get it early.”

Beatty said, “generally speaking,” the vaccine prevents 40-60% of the most severe influenza cases.

In addition to the vaccine, the county said, other preventative actions include avoiding people who are sick, covering coughs and washing your hands often