A child in Florida who had not received the flu vaccine died from the virus, state officials announced on Monday, the first influenza-related pediatric death reported in the country this flu season.
While flu activity remains low across the United States, the Florida Department of Health said that a child tested positive for one of the strains, influenza B, and later died. Health officials would not release details about the death, including the child’s age, gender or location in the state, but said that the child did not have an underlying medical condition and died between Sept. 30 and Oct. 6.
The flu season, which just began and stretches into winter, typically peaks during the coldest months. The death was notable because it occurred before any significant outbreaks in Florida or beyond and before many people have even received the vaccination. Federal health officials recommend getting the flu shot before the end of October.
It was not clear whether the child did not get the flu shot on purpose or whether the child had expected to receive it later in the season. A spokesman for the health department said that the state could not release more information about the case because of privacy concerns.
“While rare, these deaths do occur every year, mostly in unvaccinated children with underlying health conditions,” the spokesman, Brad Dalton, said in an email on Tuesday. “Annual vaccination is the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones from influenza and its potentially severe complications.”
[Sign up for the Morning Briefing newsletter to get a look at what you need to know to begin your day.]
Florida health officials said that the child’s death did not necessarily portend a deadly flu season in the state. Last season, more than 80,000 Americans died of the flu, the highest toll in over a decade, federal health officials recently said. Of the total, only 180 were young children and teenagers, including eight in Florida.
The deadliest strain last season was H3N2, a subtype of the influenza A virus that is often the most deadly of the four typical seasonal strains. It is too early to know yet which strains, influenza A or B, will emerge as the deadliest this season, health officials said.
“Influenza seasons vary in timing, severity and length,” officials at the Florida Department of Health said in a statement on Monday, adding that the number of cases was expected to climb in the coming weeks. “It is not possible to predict what the 2018-19 influenza season will be like in Florida.”
While the Florida child is the first reported pediatric death in the country, about 30 adults died from the flu nationwide in September and thousands more died from pneumonia, which is a common complication of the flu, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Before the child’s death was announced on Monday, the C.D.C. had not reported any influenza-related deaths among children.
The flu vaccine in the United States this year protects against at least three strains of the flu, including two types of influenza A and one influenza B, according to the C.D.C. Despite pleas from health officials to get the shot, about 58 percent of children ages 6 months to 17 got it last season, down two percentage points from 2015-16, the federal government said.
