NBC NEWS – More than 100 children have died of the flu this season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday.
The number of pediatric deaths — 103 so far — is not a seasonal record. While kids with underlying health problems are more at risk for severe outcomes from the flu, the latest CDC numbers provide a stark reminder that flu can indeed be devastating to any child.
“This is certainly sobering information, but it’s not something necessarily unexpected,” said Alicia Budd, head of the CDC’s domestic influenza surveillance team.
More than half of the children who died (53%) had no medical issues before their influenza infection, Budd said.
Among the 10 new pediatric deaths in the most recent report, most died within the last few weeks, Budd said.
Although cases seem to be peaking across the country, flu season is not over. The CDC estimates that the nation has logged at least 28 million flu illnesses, resulting in 310,000 hospitalizations so far this year. In addition to the 103 pediatric deaths, about 20,000 others have died of flu.
“There is a popular misconception among families that flu is just another cold virus, and that it’s no big deal,” said Dr. Kristina Bryant, a pediatric infectious disease physician at Norton Healthcare in Louisville, Kentucky.
“I have taken care of kids who are critically ill in the intensive care unit with flu,” Bryant said. “I’ve taken care of kids who have ultimately died from flu. And almost universally, their parents tell me, ‘I had no idea that flu could do this to my child.’”
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