CDC director Robert Redfield says pandemic flu is "very possible"

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention closely monitors the flu after the highest number of deaths from the virus last year since the start of modern screening. In an interview with John Dickerson, co-host of "CBS This Morning", director of the CDC Dr. Robert Redfield He fears that the flu will become a pandemic like the 1918 Spanish flu, which claimed the lives of 50 million people around the world.

"You know, people ask me what's holding me back at night, and what's holding me back at night, is what you mentioned, pandemic flu, so I think it's very possible." , did he declare. "And we risk another pandemic – our best preparation for this pandemic is to optimize our response to the seasonal flu … But, John, I think this remains, you know, a serious possibility."

The US government believes that 80,000 Americans died of the flu and its complications last winter – the largest number of deaths from the disease for at least four decades.

"We lost more children last year from deaths from the flu than any year since we started to register … the majority of those who died were not vaccinated, "Redfield said. "I want to come back and say that vaccination is one of the most critical tools we have for eliminating diseases … in this case, it is the most important tool we have to minimize the flu. "

President Trump has already indicated that he is considering setting up a task force to study the drawbacks of vaccines, but Redfield said that he had never spoken to the president about this issue .

"Have you ever thought about perhaps educating about the benefits of vaccines?" Dickerson asked.

"The most powerful tool we have for eliminating diseases is vaccination … We are on the verge of eliminating polio from the world.There are currently 22 cases of poliomyelitis. we came to the limit? vaccination, "said Redfield.

The CDC recommends that anyone aged six months and older be vaccinated against the flu each year, although a recent survey suggests that many children may not be vaccinated to save lives because their parents' misconceptions about the safety and importance of vaccines.

A child from Florida became the first person to die of the flu this season last month, health officials said. State epidemiologists said that the child had not been vaccinated and that he was otherwise healthy before falling ill with the flu.