NJ Infant Dies From Flu As 'Tripledemic' Hospitalizations Rise

Update: This article contains additional information on the pediatric influenza death.

NEW JERSEY — A child in New Jersey has died from influenza for the first time in three flu seasons.

The fatality occurred as the "tripledemic" — the respiratory-disease threat of COVID-19, the flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) — strains emergency and pediatric departments around the nation.

The decedent is a male infant, a spokesperson for the New Jersey Department of Health told Patch. Officials withheld further details for privacy reasons.

The death was disclosed in the state health department's weekly report that monitors flu and respiratory illness, which reflects information through the week ending Dec. 10.

During that week, 56,334 cases of flu were reported in New Jersey. Every region of the state showed high levels of the illness.

New Jersey last reported a pediatric flu death in early 2020, with two child fatalities that season, following six pediatric deaths reported the prior year.

The resurgence of flu comes as the state also reports its highest total of COVID-19 hospitalizations since mid-February.

The Biden administration has resisted pleas from medical associations to declare an emergency for the national surge in pediatric hospitalizations from the tripledemic. But state officials urged the public to stay current on vaccines, including the bivalent COVID booster and the flu shot.

"As we enter the winter months and holiday gatherings take place over the next few weeks," said Gov. Phil Murphy, "I encourage residents to help keep themselves and their communities safe by taking simple precautions of their own, from getting vaccinated to staying home if they are sick."

Meanwhile, federal health officials recommended masking within public, indoor spaces in 10 counties: Passaic, Bergen, Hudson, Essex, Union, Somerset, Middlesex, Monmouth, Warren and Cumberland.

The CDC adopted the community-level metric — a metric based on hospitalizations and case rates — in late February. The agency updates its color-coded COVID maps each Thursday, recommending masks in counties with "high" community levels. The mask recommendations don't trigger any mandates in New Jersey, and people may also choose to continue masking in any setting.

Here's how the tripledemic continues to impact New Jersey.

State Of NJ Hospitals

State officials reported 1,377 hospital patients with confirmed or suspected COVID as of Wednesday — New Jersey's highest tally since mid-February, when the initial omicron wave diminished. The omicron surge peaked with 6,089 COVID hospitalizations in the state on Jan. 11.

New Jersey's intensive-care units, meanwhile, have fared better than the rest of the nation's. As of Friday, patients occupy 47.4 percent of New Jersey's ICU beds, while 78.8 percent of ICU beds around the U.S. remain in use, according to federal data.

Additionally, 72.9 percent of New Jersey's in-patient beds are occupied, with 6.1 percent in use for COVID. The ratio becomes concerning when COVID patients exceed 10 percent of inpatient beds, representing "extreme stress" at 20 percent, according to a framework developed by the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

Sixty-six percent of New Jersey's pediatric beds were occupied as of Thursday, according to NBC News analysis of federal data.

Severe Flu Season

New Jersey may sustain its worst flu season in recent history, with high flu activity detected in every part of the state. The Garden State is on pace to exceed its most-severe flu seasons in the past decade in three key metrics, according to the New Jersey Department of Health's most recent surveillance report:

• The ratio of emergency-department visits linked to influenza-like illness fell from the prior week but still hovers around 9 percent. That's more than double the average rate of the state's three worst flu seasons in the past decade at this time of year.

• The rate of those visits that resulted in admission also exceeds those of New Jersey's worst flu seasons in the past 10 years.

• School absenteeism has declined slightly in recent weeks but remains on pace to exceed the most severe flu seasons in recent memory.

Twenty-six New Jersey children, including the deceased infant, have been admitted into ICUs for influenza-related illness this season — the state's highest total since 2019-20 (57 children).

Thirty children around the nation have died from influenza-like illnesses this season, according to the CDC.

Dalya Ewais, a state health department spokesperson, told Patch the following via email:

"With COVID-19, flu, RSV, and other respiratory viruses circulating, the New Jersey Department of Health continues to encourage parents and caregivers to get their children vaccinated against the flu and COVID-19. Children under 5 years old, and especially those younger than 2 years old, are at higher risk for severe influenza. The Department also urges everyone to take everyday preventive actions like covering coughs and sneezes, handwashing, and staying home or keeping children home when sick."

What Else To Know

Eighty-seven people in New Jersey died from COVID complications in the past week, according to the CDC. The estimated national death toll from the virus totaled about 2,400 people in that span.

COVID levels in the region's wastewater have nearly doubled in the past month, according to Biobot Analytics, which monitors sewage as it relates to public health. Virus levels in the wastewater can often indicate COVID's prevalence in communities before lagging indicators, such as hospitalizations or deaths. The Northeast logged its highest levels of COVID concentration since January. See the data here.

For more coronavirus numbers, visit the state health department's COVID-19 dashboard, The New York Times data page for New Jersey and the CDC's data tracker.