News
First Mississippi Child Dies of Flu in 2023-2024 Season
Mississippi saw its first child flu death of the 2023-2024 season.
Heather Harrison
November 17, 2023
Mississippi saw its first child flu death of the 2023-2024 season.
The Centers for Disease Control is warning of the worst flu season in over a decade, with more than 78,000 hospitalizations and 4,500 deaths across the nation this year alone. Mississippi’s health system, already struggling with the damage from years of COVID-19, is feeling the consequences of the surge as well.
A child has died of an influenza infection for the first time since May 2020, the Mississippi State Health Department reported this week. The state reported two child deaths from influenza in 2020, but flu activity levels plummeted as residents followed social-distancing guidelines in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Booster doses are now available for many vaccinated Mississippians, providing an extra barrier against transmission of the virus for those vaccinated at the beginning of the year. But health-care professionals are also encouraging Mississippians to remember their flu shots as flu season approaches.
Today’s Americans have significant advantages over those of a century ago. We have a much better understanding of virology and epidemiology. We know that social distancing and masking work to help save lives. Most critically, we have multiple safe and effective vaccines that are being deployed, with the pace of vaccinations increasingly weekly.
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