Denver Child Dies Of Flu; More Than 1,000 Cases Hospitalized

DENVER, CO – A Denver-area child died last week of influenza, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said. This was Colorado's first pediatric death in the 2018-19 flu season. The child was not identified.

In the week ending Jan. 12, 2019 the state health department said the total number of hospitalizations since the beginning of the season is now 1,192. The highest hospitalization rate is among children, newborn to 4 years old, the agency said.

The A(H1N1) is Colorado's most prevalent strain, and that is the strain associated with the child fatality, the agency said. Since the H1N1 virus emerged in 2009 it has been associated with significant illness and severe illness among young children, the Centers for Disease Control said.

The Colorado counties this season with the highest rates of flu hospitalizations per 100,000 residents are Chaffee, Denver, Otero and Pueblo counties, according to the state health department.

The CDC's influenza-like-illness (ILI) surveillance measures the level of flu activity within a state. According to the latest ILI data, 19 states have high flu activity. However, the ILI surveillance does not measure geographic spread so the CDC cautions that outbreaks in a single city could cause a state to have high flu activity.

To see where flu is widespread https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm#ILIMap
Influenza-like-illness activity map with links to state health departments for more info https://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/fluview/main.html

The flu can cause serious illness, hospitalization and death. The groups most at risk are older adults, very young children, pregnant women and those with certain chronic medical conditions, according to the CDC.

As in Colorado, this season the A(H1N1) viruses have predominated in most parts of the country.

While the length of a flu season can vary, the average flu season over the last five years has lasted 16 weeks. When the current flu season began on Dec. 15, 2018, the CDC said it expects that elevated flu activity will continue for weeks and advised that it's not too late to get vaccinated.

The CDC says that during most seasons, about 80 percent of children who die are not vaccinated. The agency cited a study that says the vaccine reduces the risk of death among healthy children by 65 percent and among children with a high-risk condition by 50 percent.

It takes about two weeks for the vaccine to provide protection against the flu. You can find more information about the flu vaccine and its benefits here.

According to the CDC, symptoms of the flu include:

• Fever or feeling feverish/chills (Though not everyone with flu will have a fever)
• Cough
• Sore throat
• Runny or stuffy nose
• Muscle or body aches
• Headaches
• Fatigue (tiredness)
• Some people may have vomiting and diarrhea, though this is more common in children than adults.

By Feroze Dhanoa, Patch National Staff

Image via Shutterstock

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