An 11-year-old Queensland girl has died after contracting influenza B amid a steep national rise in children being admitted to hospital with the virus.
A spokesperson for Sunshine Coast university hospital, where she was admitted for care, said the tragedy was “heartbreaking for everyone involved”.
“We would like to extend our sincere sympathies to the family during this extremely difficult time,” the spokesperson said.
The girl is the second person to die in the past week with influenza after a student died on the New South Wales Central Coast.
The Central Coast local health district confirmed the death on Tuesday, offering condolences to the student’s friends and family.
There have been more than 152,000 confirmed cases of influenza this year.
Last week, the NSW chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, urged parents to vaccinate their children against the flu amid rising cases among children in the state.
“Sadly, our children’s hospitals are seeing an increasing number of these children being admitted for care and some of these patients are seriously unwell,” she told reporters last Thursday.
Just 24% of children aged between six months to five years – and 14% of children aged five to 16 – were vaccinated against influenza nationally. This compares with 61% of those aged 65 and above.
Since May, at least 16 children have been admitted to intensive care at three major NSW hospitals with life-threatening complications from influenza.
Queensland’s chief health officer, John Gerrard, said the state had experienced an influenza A wave leading into winter, but influenza B had taken over as the dominant strain in July.
