Print
Jan 31, 2007 4:45 pm US/Central
Flu Complications Kill 8-Year-Old
St. Paul (WCCO) ―
-
-
The death comes as flu bugs are spreading among school-age children, with 55 Minnesota schools reporting likely outbreaks in the last week.
State health officials reported the first child death from influenza in two flu seasons on Wednesday, when an 8-year-old died in Ramsey County.
The child had no underlying medical conditions and hadn't been vaccinated against the flu, said Kris Ehresmann, head of immunizations at the Minnesota Health Department. Hospital testing identified the flu strain as influenza type A, she said.
The death comes as flu bugs are spreading among school-age children, with 55 Minnesota schools reporting likely outbreaks in the last week, Ehresmann said. The flu is rarely fatal for children. One Minnesota child died during the 2004-05 flu season, and there were no pediatric flu deaths in the 2005-06 and 2003-04 flu seasons, she said.
"Deaths from influenza are uncommon among children -- both kids with high-risk conditions and kids without high-risk conditions -- but they do happen," Ehresmann said.
"It is very likely that this child would have been protected by the vaccine," said Department of Health spokesman Doug Shultz. "Most of our pediatric flu deaths do occur in children under 5 and particularly in infants -- but again, we do see deaths in older children on occasion."
Parents should contact a health care provider if their child develops symptoms different from or more severe than the common cold. Ehresmann said it's not too late to get immunized against the flu, and plenty of vaccine is still available.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
