Another child has died from the flu in Michigan, bringing the confirmed death toll to three.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services says flu activity remains high and that 2.7 million residents have received the vaccine. Victor DiRita is the chair of the Michigan State University Department of Microbiology, Genetics, and Immunology Chair and says some still get the flu even if they got vaccinated. But he still recommends it.
“Would the vaccine not work? It’s hard to say,” DiRita said. “I mean, certainly, what I teach medical students and what I try to tell medical students they should tell their patients is, you don’t take the flu vaccine so you don’t get flu. You take it so you don’t die from flu. And even if you get the vaccine and you get flu, the data show quite clearly that the outcomes are much better if you’ve been vaccinated.”
910,000 people have wound up in the hospital with the flu in the U.S. this season.
This third child flu death was in in Macomb County, while the first two were in Wayne and Genesee counties.
