Five more children dead from new ‘super’ virus as doctors warn it leaves sufferers gasping for air
Five children have died from a new strain of ‘super flu’ that leaves sufferers gasping for air and battling sky-high fevers.
Health officials in Massachusetts announced this week that four children in the state have died of the flu so far this season.
Two of the children lived in Boston and were under two years old, an age when children are particularly vulnerable to severe illness due to underdeveloped immune systems.
The Illinois Department of Public Health also announced Tuesday that one child has died of the flu this season amid ‘very high’ activity in the state.
No further details were released about any of the children.
The deaths come as the latest CDC figures show ‘very high’ flu activity in 32 states, with hospitalizations up 54 percent compared to the week before.
During the week of December 27, the latest data available, one in three flu tests came back positive, up from one in four the previous week. This is also a 76 percent surge from this time last year.
While symptoms are the same as other flu strains, experts warn variant H3N2 subclade K, or ‘super flu,’ is leading to more severe illness, especially in children, with signs including week-long fevers and a cough that leads to trouble breathing.
Four children in Massachusetts and one in Illinois have died of the flu this season, health officials announced this week (stock image)
Massachusetts Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr Robbie Goldstein said in a statement: ‘These viruses are serious, dangerous, and life-threatening. We are seeing children who are seriously ill, families grieving devastating losses, and hospitals under capacity strain.’
Flu activity is ‘very high’ in 32 states, the latest CDC data shows.
The agency’s highest classification, level 13, given to Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York City, New York state, New Jersey, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Colorado, New Mexico and Idaho.
The number of states reporting ‘low’ and ‘minimal’ flu activity has also drastically diminished. There are no longer any states with ‘minimal’ activity, and only two have ‘low’ activity: Montana and Vermont.
This is down from 10 ‘low’ and four ‘minimal’ activity states the previous week.
The hospitalization rate is now 28 per 100,000 people, up 54 percent from 18 per 100,000 the previous week.
The CDC estimates there have been at least 11 million flu illnesses, 120,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths this season.
One of the pediatric deaths was 16-year-old Ryleigh Spurlock of Ohio, who went to the doctor with ‘ordinary flu symptoms’ on December 23, Cleveland 19 News reported.
Her condition quickly deteriorated, and she died on December 28.
Ryleigh Smothers (pictured above), 16, died on December 28 from influenza just five days after visiting her doctor with ‘ordinary flu symptoms’
Spurlock’s stepmother told local news: ‘She went from a 98.5 temperature to a 105, she went septic, she had double pneumonia, all within 24 hours, all from the flu, and it doesn’t make sense.’
The teen had not received a flu shot this season, according to Cleveland 19 News.
The week before, 14-year-old Noah Smothers from Alabama lost his life to flu complications, as well as an unidentified child from Kentucky.
This year’s dominant flu strain is brand new to people’s immune systems, making them highly vulnerable and at an increased risk of severe, hospitalizing illness.
Dr Mark Loafman, chair of Family and Community Medicine at Cook County Health in Illinois, told NBC Chicago that there has been ‘more fever with the flu this year than people are accustomed to,’ which can last for five to seven days.
‘And that’s worrisome,’ he said. ‘You feel ill, you feel sick, and you worry that you’re not getting better.’
Dr Juanita Mora, national spokesperson for the American Lung Association, told the outlet that these fevers also may not respond to usual over-the-counter treatments like Tylenol or Ibuprofen. Excessive fevers can kill cells throughout the body and weaken vital organs like the brain, as well as lead to severe dehydration.
Noah Smothers is pictured here in the center. He died last month from influenza-related complications at just 14 years old
‘This new strain has symptoms of really high fevers,’ Dr Mora said. ‘It has a really bad cough that won’t go away, very phlegmy, and also vomiting and diarrhea and lots of joint aches as well as muscle aches.’
Dr Neal Shipley, medical director of Northwell Health-GoHealth Urgent Care, previously told Daily Mail it is important to recognize the symptoms that ring alarm bells so you know when to seek expert help.
‘If your symptoms worsen quickly, or you have trouble breathing, weakness, dehydration or symptoms that don’t improve after a few days, you should find your nearest urgent care,’ he said.
Influenza A, which includes subclade K and accounts for three in four flu cases, can best be prevented with an annual vaccine, which is 30 to 75 percent effective.
As of mid December, 42 percent of American adults have received this season’s flu shot, which is in line with last year’s figures.
