First child among 98 flu deaths reported in North Carolina this season

RALEIGH, NC (WWAY) — A total of 98 people in North Carolina have died from the flu this season, including one person between the age of 5 and 17, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

Health officials report 21 new flu from February 17-23.

Those numbers included the first child-related flu death of the season. The child was between the age of 5 and 17. The other 97 flu-associated deaths reported this season have occurred in people 25 or older, with the largest number of fatalities (64) happening to patients 65 and older.

In North Carolina, 391 flu deaths were reported during the 2017-2018 flu season — the most reported during a flu season since adult flu deaths became reportable in the state in 2009.

Of those 391 deaths, 290 were people age 65 and older and seven were children under the age of 18.