An El Paso County child has died from the flu, and state health officials worry that the worst is yet to come as the virus circulates another two to three months.
This case was the first influenza-related child death in El Paso since 2013. The child – whose name, age and gender were not released – was not vaccinated against the flu, which county Medical Director Christine Nevin-Woods called “tragic.” There were two pediatric flu deaths during the 2016-17 flu season, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
She urged residents to get the flu shot to guard against an unusually high number of flu outbreaks across the state.
Though effectiveness of the vaccine has dropped to 30 percent this year, Nevin-Woods said that shouldn’t stop someone from getting the flu shot.
“Most people believe that flu vaccines and vaccines in general are 100 percent effective, and that’s not true. Nothing is perfect,” she said. “With the influenza vaccine, it can vary from year to year. But the key point is how it protects from severe disease and death and hospitalization.”
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Updated 7:51 a.m. Jan. 19: This story has been corrected to reflect the child’s death was the first flu death recorded in El Paso County since 2013. The state recorded two pediatric influenza deaths in the 2016-2017 flu season.
