Harsh flu season has health officials worried about brain complications in children

FILE - A patient is given a flu vaccine in Lynwood, Calif., Oct. 28, 2022. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 19,000 people have died from the flu so far this winter, including 86 children.

This year's harsh flu season — the most intense in 15 years — has federal health officials trying to understand if it sparked an increase in a rare but life-threatening brain complication in children.