Flu kills 105 children; most not vaccinated, CDC says

Influenza has killed 105 children this year, federal officials reported on Friday, and almost none of them had been vaccinated against the virus. That’s triple the number who died during last year’s flu season. But flu deaths fluctuate a lot and it’s not anywhere near the worst season for child deaths, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says in its weekly report on influenza. “We are getting close to the end of the flu season now but it’s not over,” says CDC flu expert Dr. Michael Jhung. Deaths from flu and pneumonia are “barely” above the annual level designated as “epidemic”, he said. “We get an epidemic of flu every year,” Jhung added in a telephone interview. “It’s just the flu season. We assign the name epidemic to it.” Officials reported that six children died of flu last week, the CDC said. That brings the total to 105 for this season, compared to...