‘Vaccine-preventable’: 3 dead in Fresno County amid nationwide flu surge

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – With flu season still among us, cases continue to soar nationwide with doctors’ offices and urgent care centers full of sick patients. 

In the CDC’s most recent report, nationwide, there have been 24 million flu illnesses just this season. And this flu season appears to be higher than in the last 28 years when the agency first started tracking this information.

“We’re definitely seeing large numbers of children coming in, very sick with the flu right now, both through our outpatient clinics as well as into the hospital,” said Dr. Hailey Nelson, pediatrician at Valley Children’s Health Care.

Nelson says flu symptoms to watch for in children include a cough, difficulty breathing, and dehydration.

“We want parents to take a look at how they’re breathing, and sometimes it includes going ahead, taking off that onesie, look at their chest, you can see when a baby’s having a hard time breathing, they’ll actually suck in, in between their ribs. And so if they’re breathing funny and you look at them and something’s not right, that really is the time to bring them in so that we can help them out.”

As of the first of this month, the Fresno County Department of Health reported three influenza-related deaths among those 65 or older this season. Nationwide, the CDC states that there have been 13,000 deaths, 57 of which were children.

“That’s really the heartbreaking thing, that this is a vaccine-preventable illness. When we look at the children who end up in the hospital, they haven’t received their flu shot yet for this season,” Nelson added.

And it is not too late to get that shot. The CDC says the most common time for the flu to reach its peak in the U.S. is in February, but it can vary from year to year.

This year, health professionals across the country, Dr. Nelson included, believe this season could last longer.

“Typically things peak around this time, but given how high the numbers are climbing, we don’t know yet if it’s going to start to downturn or continue to persist,” she said.

Dr. Nelson stresses the importance of covering our coughs and washing our hands well to prevent the spread of germs and illnesses.