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NEW YORK CITY, NY – The flu season has already killed a child in New York, a senior health official said Thursday. The child was under 18 and had succumbed to the flu in the past two weeks, said Dr Oxiris Barbot, acting health commissioner.
Barbot, who raised concerns about patient privacy, gave no further details.
"Pediatric deaths due to the flu are not unusual, but they sadly recall the consequences of not being vaccinated," Barbot said at a press conference on flu shots.
Influenza activity in the city has been low so far, with the virus accounting for 2% of all visits to the hospital, Barbot said. This activity should increase as the season progresses, she said. Some 39 people were hospitalized with the flu during the week ending Oct. 13, an increase of 8% from the previous week, according to the state's Department of Health.
The city has experienced five child deaths during the last influenza season, one of the worst in recent years, Barbot said. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus killed 183 children in the country during the 2017-2018 season, a record. About 80% of them had not been vaccinated against influenza.
The death of the child in New York may well be the second of the country in this influenza season. A Florida child who had not been vaccinated died of the virus between Sept. 30 and Oct. 6, the New York Times reported last week.
Barbot said that up to eight children die each year from the flu, and it is not uncommon for the virus to afflict children "in perfect health".
"One of the things that reminds us, in my opinion, is not to underestimate how the flu can affect people," Barbot said.
Anyone aged at least 6 months should be vaccinated against the flu, said Barbot. New Yorkers can find a place to take a picture on this map.
(Main image: Syringes filled with influenza vaccine were seen in California in November 2014. Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
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