More Massachusetts Kids Continue to Die from Common Illness

Massachusetts is still in the winter season, and while we are starting to see some warmer temperatures (warmer compared to the sub-zero conditions we recently experienced), it's still very much the winter season, and illness is still a very real thing.

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With colder weather, we can expect the flu to take grip on some folks. As a matter of fact, we are right in the peak flu season (December-February), and some people aren't just falling ill from the infection. It's been reported in many recent media articles that a seventh child recently died from the flu, and the total number of flu deaths for the Bay State this season is 260.

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According to Western Mass News, the death was reported last Friday (2/13) as school districts across Western Massachusetts use February vacation week to deep clean facilities and eliminate lingering illnesses.

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The article also reports that about 90 percent of children who have died from the flu weren't vaccinated and that, as of this writing, Massachusetts is currently listed as having moderate influenza-like illness activity. Now, I'm not going to go on a political soapbox rant about whether you should or shouldn't vaccinate your child, but if you are interested, it's not too late. I got my flu vaccine in January, and I thought that was late, but it wasn't at all.

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If you want to schedule a flu shot for your child and/or yourself, you can call your doctor or even get it done at the local CVS or Walgreens. It's easy to do and only takes a few minutes of your time. After all, nobody wants to be sick when spring comes around.