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3rd child flu death reported in Colorado this season

Posted at 4:20 PM, Mar 26, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-26 18:28:02-04

DENVER — State health officials reported Tuesday that another Colorado child has died from influenza, making this the third pediatric flu death in Colorado during the 2018-2019 season.

The school-aged child was from the Denver-metro area and died the week ending March 16, according to a report from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

The report states that the third case was associated with influenza A, H3N2. The two previous pediatric cases in Colorado were associated with influenza A, H1N1 — the predominating strain this season.

The first childhood death from influenza this season in Colorado occurred the week ending Jan. 12. The second child, 7-year-old Selina Nguyen, died Feb. 7 after more than a month-long hospitalization in a comatose state.

Children up to age four have seen the second-highest rate of flu-related hospitalizations this season with about 113 hospitalizations per 100,000 people. Senior citizens aged 65 and older have the highest rate of hospitalizations at 168.2 per 100,000 people.

Mortality due to pneumonia and influenza in Colorado for the week ending March 9 was at 5.8 percent. This is lower the national level of 7.1 percent.

Since the end of September, 3,300 people have been hospitalized because of flu in Colorado and the state has seen 68 outbreaks associated with influenza this season.

It's not known if any the three fatal cases were vaccinated. But the Center for Disease Control recommends a yearly flu vaccine as a first step toward preventing the flu.