MI Child Dies From Flu, State's First Pediatric Death Of Season: MDHHS

MICHIGAN — Michigan health officials confirmed the state's first child flu death of the season, as vaccine coverage falls, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Friday.

Health officials said the child contracted Influenza A, or H1N1. They did not indicate where the child lived or the child's age.

"These are tragedies that no family should ever have to endure," Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Natasha Bagdasarian said. "She urged parents of children older than 6 months get a flu vaccine for their children and urged adults to get the shot once a year as well."

Health officials reminded people still can receive the vaccine for the current influenza season, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) surveillance map showed flu activity in Michigan remains "high" for the second straight week. Additional information is available in the Michigan Flu Focus report.

Only 19 percent of Michigan children 6 months to 17 years have received the season's vaccine, a slight drop compared to the same time in the 2022-23 flu season (20.0 percent), according to the Michigan Care Improvement Registry.

Only 25 percent of Michigan residents have been vaccinated against the flu, according to the health department.

The CDC estimates that since October there have been at least 28-51 million flu illnesses, 13-24 million flu medical visits, 310,000-640,000 flu hospitalizations and 20,000-57,000 deaths nationally.

The news also comes after health officials recently announced multiple measles cases throughout southeastern Michigan. One case was announced in Oakland County, a child, while two adults, one in Washtenaw County and another in Wayne County tested positive for the virus. The cases are not linked to each other, but are all related to international travel, according to the health department.

The vaccine against measles is a two-part dose, which is also protects against mumps and rubella. Roughly 68 percent of children ages 19-36 months had received one dose of the vaccine by February, a number that's down from 75 percent in January 2019, according to data from the Michigan Care Improvement Registry.