NORWALK, CT — A heartbreaking story to share today. Health officials believe that it's likely that the death of a six-year-old girl from Norwalk may have been due to the flu, according to media reports. This would be the second case this winter in Connecticut where a child has died as a result of complications with the flu.
Emma Splan, 6, died Sunday night and the Mayor told NBC Connecticut that it's being investigated as a a possible flu-related death. A friend of the family told NBC that Emma had her flu shot and was immediately taken to her doctor once her symptoms developed.
The child's symptoms developed on Thursday and they went to the doctor and days later Emma was hospitalized on Sunday and then she died. Emma was a student at Columbus Magnet School in Norwalk.
Her Principal Medard Thomas said grief counselors will be present to assist grieving students, staff and parents, Fox 61 reports. The school has been deploying a strong disinfectant to clean the school. He has ordered another deep cleaning of the school prior to Tuesday.
Nico Mallozzi, a 10-year-old New Canaan child who died unexpectedly on Jan. 14, suffered from the flu, which turned to pneumonia and eventually sepsis. See related story: Child, 10, dies as a result of the flu
The flu has been worse than ever this year. Fourteen more people died from flu-related deaths last week, the state Department of Public Health said.
"Sadly, 14 more influenza-associated deaths were reported to us last week," DPH Commissioner Raul Pino said in a release. "Because we are still experiencing widespread influenza actively, it is likely that we will continue to see additional flu-related deaths in the coming weeks."
According to this week's update, flu activity in Connecticut remains high and widespread. Statewide emergency department visits attributed to the flu have increased over the last week to 14.3%, which is the highest weekly level observed in Connecticut since the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.
A total of 1,638 patients have been hospitalized with confirmed cases of flu between Aug. 27, 2017 and Feb. 10, 2018, and 4,915 influenza positive laboratory tests have been reported so far this season.
According to DPH officials, 77 deaths have been attributed to the flu so far this season, which is the highest number of influenza-associated deaths reported to the Department in the past five years.
Of these deaths, 62 were among patients over the age of 65, nine were 50-64 years of age, four were 25-49 years of age, one was between 19 and 24-years-old and one was between 5 and 18-years-old.
Officials also recommend routinely cleaning surfaces and objects that are touched often and emptying trash cans as the best way to slow the spread of the flu in homes, schools and businesses.
from Health - Google News http://ift.tt/2EF6kKD
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