Reader Richard Morton points me to a Centers for Disease Control web page that provides updates on the incidence of the flu. So far this season, the flu has been mild. As of November 20, 2004, CDC says there has not been a single pediatric death in the entire U.S. arising from flu or influenza-like illness. In addition, at three CDC surveillance sites in Cincinnati, Nashville, and Rochester, no children under the age of 5 have been hospitalized for conditions associated with the flu.

Morton, who is skeptical about the efficacy and safety of the flu vaccine, notes:

If we would believe the forecasters, the shortage of the flu vaccine should have produced a flu pandemic with epidemic levels of death among the elderly and children. The actual statistics clearly belie this notion and point in the opposite direction….

My earlier post on this topic presents arguments from both sides, while this article defends the efficacy of the flu vaccine.