A Monroe County Child Dies of Influenza

Written by Jasmine

It has been confirmed that, between the dates of Oct. 1, 2019, and Oct. 19, 2019, a 4-year-old child in the Monroe County area has died as a result of the flu. It is not clear yet whether or not the child had been vaccinated.

In fact, in a report published by the Monroe County Department of Health there are actually 14 lab-confirmed cases of the flu and six of these patients had to be hospitalized.

Dr. Neil Herendeen of the Golisano Children’s Hospital says, “We’ve already seen flu in western New York. This year, it’s hitting early and we want to make sure the vaccine that’s gonna protect you gets in before Halloween if we can.”

Last year, Monroe County made it all the way until December 15th before there were 15 confirmed flu cases. It’s not even November yet… what is going on!?