A fifth child has died in Ohio from flu-related illness, the Ohio Department of Health confirmed Thursday.
A 9-year-old Marion county boy was the latest pediatric death reported during the current flu season, which began last September and generally peaks at this time of year.
All the child deaths, which are the only flu-related deaths reported to the health department, occurred this month. None have been reported in the Miami Valley.
Previously, the state health department reported the flu-related deaths of a 7-year-old boy from Columbiana County; a 6-year-old girl in Cuyahoga County; a 7-year-old girl in Fulton County; and a 6-year-old boy from Columbiana County. The deaths in Columbiana County were unrelated.
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There was one flu-related pediatric death during last year’s flu season, and six pediatric deaths in the previous flu season, ODH reported.
According to the most recent figures available from the state health department, there were 576 flu-related hospitalizations in the week that ended Feb. 11, during which time two of the child deaths occurred. The number of hospitalizations was up from 396 in the previous week, ODH reported.
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