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CHICAGO — More children have died from flu because they also had staph infections, according to a new government report that urges parents to have their kids get the flu shot.

The number of deaths was 73 during the 2006-07 flu season, and there was more than a fivefold increase in hard-to-treat complications. Preliminary figures indicate deaths rose again in last winter’s flu season.

Public health officials say the numbers underscore the importance of a brand-new recommendation that all children, from 6 months through 18 years, get routine flu shots. Before this year, shots were recommended for kids under 5 years.

More than half the children who died were between ages 5 and 17 and had been healthy until they got the flu.

Staph germs commonly live in the nose or skin without causing illness; more than one-fourth of U.S. children and adults carry them.

The flu is thought to make people more susceptible to bacterial infections such as staph, said Lyn Finelli, the study’s lead author, who is a researcher for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Finelli said parents should take children to the doctor when they have flu symptoms and signs of other complications. These could include extreme fatigue, no thirst or, in older children, complaints about feeling very ill.