Unfortunately, flu has made its first victim this season in North Carolina, as health leaders reported on Tuesday that a 6-year-old from the state died of complications from the disease. The child’s sex and hometown in a rural county were not released in order to protect the family’s privacy. Three children have died nationwide until now, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Among the flu symptoms, we can find the abrupt onset of fever, achiness, malaise, cough, sore throat and runny nose. The health department encourages everyone to get a flu shot, and that’s because it offers full protection against the virus within two weeks. This year’s vaccine has been a good match for the strains of virus circulating, unlike last season’s.

For now, this year’s flu season appears to be average, even if infection rates across the state have begun to increase and doctors reporting widespread illness. According to epidemiologists, the peak flu season will last through March. The number of childhood deaths from influenza has been reported to state health officials only since the 2004-05 flu season. Why wait until then? Well, the change was necessary after a virulent flu season in 2003 that was particularly fatal to children.
 
Six years ago, North Carolina reported an incredible number of nine deaths from flu in December alone. Flu does not act alone, and when it’s fatal, it’s fatal because it weakens the body’s immune system to other attacks, notably from a bacterium that causes pneumonia. The CDC advises all children from six months through 18 years of age to get a vaccine against the flu. It remains to be seen if the agency will manage to avoid the epidemic.