Minn. reports season's first flu-related death of child

The Minnesota Department of Health is reporting the first flu-related death of a child this season.

Influenza deaths in children are rare, but they happen every year in Minnesota. Last year there were three. 2014-15, a particularly bad flu season, saw 10 pediatric fatalities.

So far this season, there have been 77 outbreaks in schools. Among all age groups there have been 715 individual cases bad enough to require a hospital visit.

Health department epidemiologist Karen Martin said this year appears to be on par with last year, but flu season is far from over.

"We're not even sure we've reached peak activity yet, so there could still be a lot of cases happening in the next several weeks."

Martin said there's still time to get vaccinated, and this year's vaccine appears to be well-matched to the strains of the virus that are circulating.

"You're still going to have people who've gotten the flu shot and still gotten the flu. But it does protect people and can help prevent complications," Martin said.