Caitlin Garcia, a student at the UT-San Antonio School of Nursing, gives a high-five to Alexander Almanza, 2, after administering his flu shot while he was held by his mom, April. It's not too late to get inoculated this season, officials say.
A girl in Harris County has died of flu-related causes, the area's first such death in a season that public health officials are calling one of the worst in a decade.
The fatality brings Texas' pediatric death toll to eight, two more than last year's final tally with a couple of months still to go in the season. Nationally, there have been 84 pediatric flu-related deaths thus far this season.
"Today's news reminds us how serious influenza can be," said Dr. Umair A. Shah, executive director of the Harris County health department.
"We want to let the community know about this tragic death so that people take appropriate preventative steps, including getting vaccinated if they haven't already. This virus can have serious complications."
Harris County officials said the girl died this month but provided no additional details, including her age range and whether she'd had a flu shot.
They cited confidentiality laws and a policy not to provide information about minors.
Dr. Mary Healy, a Baylor College of Medicine pediatrician in the section of infectious diseases, said the warning signs of life-threatening flu in a child include labored breathing characterized by flaring of nostrils, use of stomach muscles, rib extension; bluish color around lips; cold hands and feet; and dehydration, lethargy and irritability.
She said if a parent is worried about their children's lack of improvement or sees something different, medical care should be sought for the child.
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The flu season has now raged in Texas and the nation for about two months, driven by a nasty flu strain known for causing more hospitalizations and deaths than other strains.
Activity is classified as "widespread" in every state except Oregon and Hawaii, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data released a week ago indicated the rate of doctor and emergency room visits for flu-related reasons this season was as bad as the height of the 2009 swine flu pandemic.
Flu is an underrated killer, claiming the lives of anywhere from 12,000 in a mild year to 56,000 people in a bad year, the vast majority elderly.
There have been 4,153 deaths in Texas so far this season, including 911 in the region that encompasses Houston and Galveston, the state health department reported Friday. Nearly 90 percent involved people 65 and older.
Pediatric flu deaths are relatively rare, although nationally there have been as many as 170 in a season. Last year, the flu claimed 110 children.
The highest pediatric death toll in Houston and Harris County in recent years was 10 in 2009. In most years, there are no more than a handful of such deaths.
Health providers are required to report pediatric flu deaths to local health departments. They are not required to report adult flu deaths although the state gathers that data from death certificates.
The pediatric deaths were lamented Monday by Dr. Peter Hotez, director of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and professor of pediatrics at Baylor.
"One of the more troubling aspects of this year's season is the high number of laboratory-confirmed influenza-associated pediatric deaths, most of which, sadly, have occurred in unvaccinated children," said Hotez.
"This pediatric death in Harris County is a reminder of the importance of vaccinating your child against influenza."
Harris County officials would not say Monday whether the girl who died this month had been vaccinated.
Only a little over a quarter of pediatric deaths over a six-year period studied by the CDC involved children who had been vaccinated for the flu virus.
This year's vaccine has been the subject of much criticism because of its limited effectiveness, but it has performed much better in children, providing roughly twice as much protection in those six months to 8 years old than in adults, the CDC said.
"It is not too late to get the vaccine," said Healy. "Even when it's not a perfect match, it protects against hospitalization and death."
The Texas health department report Friday showed a slight leveling off in flu activity over the last two weeks, though officials said it is too early to determine whether the season has peaked.
from Health - Google News http://ift.tt/2sEUFFQ
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