Second Pierce County child dies of the flu
Another child has died in Pierce County from flu-related complications, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department announced Thursday.
The child was between the ages of 10 and 15 and had no underlying health conditions.
This is the second child and ninth person in the county to die of influenza during the 2019-2020 season.
“This flu season has been especially tough on children,” the Health Department wrote in a news release. “The flu in circulation has hit them hard.”
The first flu-related death in Pierce County occurred in November and was a man in his 80s.
The second victim was a child younger than 5 who died in late December.
Experts said it’s not too late to get a flu shot and that vaccinations are the best defense.
Flu season typically extends through April.
Symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache and fatigue.
Children younger than 5 are at highest risk to develop flu-related complications, officials said.
The virus is spread when people with the flu cough, sneeze or talk.
In the 2018-2019 flu season, 42 Pierce County residents died of influenza. There were 31 fatalities the season before, and 50 flu-related deaths in Pierce County for the 2016-2017 season.
This story was originally published January 23, 2020 at 1:51 PM.
