A child has died from the flu in the western part of North Carolina, state health officials said Thursday.
The child is the first pediatric patient to die of the illness in the 2019-2020 flu season.
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“We extend our deepest sympathies to this child’s family," state epidemiologist Dr. Zack Moore said in a statement. “These personal losses are also a reminder for all of us that flu can be a serious illness.”
Moore advised people to get annual flu shots.
Twenty adults in North Carolina have died from the flu this season, health officials said, and 14 of them were older than 65.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 27 children have died from the flu nationwide as of Jan. 4.