Health officials: Four children may have died from flu

<p>As flu activity intensifies in Georgia, state health officials are investigating the deaths of four children who may have been flu victims.</p><p>If confirmed, the deaths would be the states first child deaths from the flu, officials said Wednesday. About three dozen children from around the country have died from the flu this season in the United States.</p><p>The children lived in various parts of the state, and their ages ranged from infant to adolescent. Their deaths are being investigated as flu-related because of their symptoms or suspicions of medical examiners, said Richard Quartarone of the Georgia Division of Public Health.</p><p>Meanwhile, Medical College of Georgia officials have voiced concerns that children could develop severe complications from drug-resistant bacterial infections after acquiring the flu. Tests came back negative Wednesday for a child originally suspected of having the flu, a medical college spokeswoman said.</p><p>Several children around the country have come down with this kind of infection and three have died, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.</p><p>This seasons flu activity has increased in Georgia, prompting health officials Tuesday to upgrade the states outbreak level to widespread, the highest outbreak level in the nation. Georgia joined at least 26 other states _ mainly in the West _ that have widespread flu activity.</p><p>Child deaths from flu are very rare but something that happens every year, Quartarone said. But it doesnt get the attention that it deserves.</p><p>The governments best estimate suggests some 92 children under 5 years old die from flu annually, according to recent research by the CDC.</p><p>Quartarone said its important to know that those exposed to a child who may have died from the flu do not have a greater risk of dying from the flu themselves.</p><p>This is an incredibly rare occurrence. Quartarone said. You are at the same risk of dying of the flu no matter where you are exposed.</p><p>Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a usually mild infection that can lead to severe pneumonia and is resistant to the most common type of antibiotic typically used to treat staph infections. MRSA used to be only found in hospitals but increasingly it has been found in the outside world.</p><p>The scary infection with MRSA is pneumonia that complicates flu, said Dr. James Wilde of the medical college. Flu puts patients at a disadvantage of infection and it does damage to the lungs. If you get MRSA, you have a very high chance of a bad outcome.</p><p>These infections dont normally cause pneumonia without the flu virus. But the flu virus can impair the bodys ability to fight the bacteria and expel it. The bacteria, in turn, can produce enzymes that enhance the flus ability to infect cells.</p><p>Health officials said people should continue to take precautions against the seasonal virus, by frequently washing hands or covering the mouth while coughing or sneezing.</p><p>___</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>Georgia flu info: www.ph.dhr.state.ga.us/epi/flu/fluupd03.shtml</p><p>CDC flu info: www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/flu/overview.htm</p>

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