This article appeared in The Dallas Morning News. Read the full story here.
Dallas County reported its seventh, eighth and ninth flu-related deaths of the 2019-20 season on Wednesday.
The three victims were 73, 65 and 64 and all had pre-existing medical conditions, according to the county’s Health and Human Services department. All three were Dallas County residents.
The victims’ names were not released.
The county also is working to determine whether four additional deaths were caused by the flu.
Two of those individuals are children — a 10-year-old Coppell student who died over winter break after contracting the flu and a Bishop Lynch High School junior whose death has been blamed on a rare complication from the flu.
“These flu deaths are a reminder of how serious flu is, and how important it is for everyone 6 months and older to get their flu vaccination and practice prevention measures,” Dr. Philip Huang, the county’s health director, said in a news release.
Huang said earlier this week that this flu season is off to a busier start than in recent years. At this time last year, only two flu-related deaths had been reported, he said Monday.
In total, 22 people died during the 2018-19 flu season, including one child.
The particularly brutal 2017-18 season claimed more than 150 lives across Dallas-Fort Worth, including 83 in Dallas County. Roughly half of the Dallas County deaths that year had occurred by mid-January.
This year’s flu season ramped up in an unusual way. In Dallas County and across Texas, flu Type B was more prevalent at the beginning of the season.
Typically, Type A is more prevalent earlier in the season, and Type B emerges later.
The percentage of Type A cases out of total flu cases in Dallas County has been increasing in recent weeks, however, Huang said.
Type A is generally more severe, while Type B is more likely to affect children.
Flu activity across Texas is high, according to the Department of State Health Services’ most recent flu surveillance report.
Across the state, eight flu-associated pediatric deaths have been reported.
Texas tracks adult flu-related deaths as a combined statistic with pneumonia deaths. The most recent state data shows 1,118 such deaths have been recorded during the 2019-20 flu season, not including pediatric flu-related deaths.
Health officials have said it’s not too late to get your flu shot if you haven’t yet this season. It’s especially important for people with chronic health conditions such as asthma, diabetes or heart disease to get vaccinated, Huang said.
Even if the vaccine isn’t a perfect match with strains circulating this season, the vaccine can decrease the severity of the illness if you do catch the flu, Huang said.
Dallas County will offer free flu shots for adults and children at the following times and locations:
- 10 a.m. to noon, Jan. 23: Eastfield Community College located at 3737 Motley Drive in Mesquite
- 9 to 11 a.m., Jan. 25: Pleasant Grove Christian Church located at 1324 Pleasant Drive in Dallas
Free flu shots are also available at all Health and Human Services immunization clinics.