Flu levels are at a 15-year high in the U.S., but many Washington children haven't gotten their flu shot

If you don't recall hearing much about the flu, measles, polio, or other major diseases while you were growing up, there's likely a good reason for that.

You, or most everyone around you, got vaccine shots.

As Dr. Elizabeth Meade, a pediatrician with Seattle's Swedish Health Services, told KUOW's Seattle Now, vaccination rates in the United States were previously higher, keeping many illnesses at bay. But outbreaks and high levels of illnesses (like the flu) have become more common as vaccination rates have fallen, especially among children.

"There is a real perception of those of us who are in a certain age group that have grown up not seeing these diseases, because we’ve had such high vaccine rates, and we’ve done a beautiful job of preventing them, and of feeling like they’re just not around anymore. ... That’s not the case for many things," Meade said. "In our state, we had a measles outbreak a few years ago."

RELATED: Flu cases rise again, while Covid takes a back seat

The vaccination rate for kids in Washington state has declined in recent years. While many routine shots for children, such as polio or measles, are usually high, flu shots have become more variable year to year. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show Washington ranks among the lowest third in the nation when it comes to the number of kids who got the most recent flu shot. This comes at a time when the United States is experiencing its highest level of flu in 15 years. Washington is among the states hit hardest by the virus.

The flu is spiking nationally (43 states have "high" or "very high" flu levels) as cases of Covid and RSV decline. Flu levels started to skyrocket in December through January, according to the CDC.

February is when the flu usually peaks each year. The Associated Press reports that so far during the 2024-25 season, at least 24 million flu illnesses have been reported, along with 310,000 hospitalizations, and 13,000 deaths (including 57 children).

RELATED: Flu season in the US is the most intense it’s been in at least 15 years

Health officials fear that lower vaccine coverage could add up to outbreaks of diseases that have been kept low for decades. Measles wasn't even a blip on the illness radar for a long time in the United States, but outbreaks have begun to emerge in recent years. Oregon just experienced its worst measles outbreak since the 1990s.

In 2019, the country of Samoa experienced a severe flu outbreak amid extremely low vaccination rates. More than 5,700 people became ill. In a little over three months, 83 people died and 1,868 were hospitalized.

Why children's vaccination rates have declined

As Meade told Seattle Now, there are a few common reasons that vaccine rates have taken a hit.

Public perception

"We see this cycle, often, with vaccines where a new vaccine comes out that protects against a deadly disease. People get so excited. They are grateful to receive it. Everybody gets vaccinated. Those rates of disease go way down, and over time, people have questions or they feel like, ‘Why do I still need this? It’s not really around anymore.’ Then we start to see those [vaccination] rates dip and then the rates of disease go back up," she said. "So, this is a natural cycle we see over and over."

Misinformation, disinformation, and info overload

"I have three children, and as a parent, it can be so tricky and difficult to find a source of truth and know what to believe," Meade said. "It’s very challenging for families to know where to turn for reliable information. That’s one component of this. But we certainly have a lot of concern about vaccine rates dropping any more."

Meade noted misinformation or disinformation has become more of a problem in recent years, especially after the Covid pandemic and concerns around the new vaccines for that disease. But she pointed out that Covid vaccines are new technology, while vaccines for the flu have been used for generations and are backed by decades of safety and efficacy data.

"Specifically with the Covid vaccine and the rapidity in which that was rolled out, people had a lot of concerns and questions that they felt like weren’t necessarily answered in a timely way, and there was a lot more uncertainty because that was new vaccine technology. I think it’s so important to acknowledge that was a scary time for people, and there were many decisions being made that people didn’t feel entirely comfortable with," Meade said. "The Covid vaccine, we have to remember, is a completely different entity than those routine childhood vaccines we’re talking about.

"We have given hundreds of millions of doses of these routine vaccines for decades and decades and have excellent safety data and data showing they’re really effective."

Access

Rural areas in Washington state have increasingly lower levels of access to pediatric care, according to Meade. In some areas, people might have to drive an hour or two to see a doctor and get a vaccine. This leads to lower levels of people getting their shots.

"It's really a struggle for people to make it to the doctor," Meade said. "You have to take time off work. You have to take your child out of school if it’s during the school year. You have to find care for your other children, potentially. So, it really can be a hurdle for people.

"Some of the rates we’re seeing dropping are due to many different issues, but we know that for lots of our families in Washington state, one of those issues is access."

Listen to Dr. Meade on Seattle Now by clicking the audio above or listen on your favorite podcast app.