http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/303865_flu15ww.html
Thursday, February 15, 2007 ? Last updated 3:28 p.m. PT
Seattle elementary student dies of flu-like illness
By JESSICA BLANCHARD and CASEY MCNERTHNEY
P-I REPORTERS
A second-grader at Laurelhurst Elementary School in Seattle has apparently died of complications from the flu, authorities reported Thursday.
The girl, who was in school yesterday, died Wednesday night at a hospital with "an influenza-like illness," said James Apa, spokesman for Public Health -- Seattle & King County.
Her death comes just a week after a 7-year-old Kent girl died from a rare complication associated with the flu.
Also last week, Bishop Blanchett High School canceled classes and shuttered its doors because almost 300 students had called in sick, many with symptoms similar to those caused by norovirus, often referred to as stomach flu.
Authorities identified the Laurelhurst student as Marija E. Alumbaugh. The King County Medical Examiner's Office has not yet determined the exact cause of her death.
The Kent girl, Sarah J. Horner, died Feb. 5 from heart tissue inflammation caused by the viral infection, the medical examiner concluded.
Horner's death was the first pediatric flu death in King County since 1999...
School staff members had already been taking steps such as cleaning classrooms in recent weeks because it's the height of flu season, Spencer said. Teachers had also been emphasizing the importance of handwashing and covering coughs to students, she said...
During the 2004-05 flu season, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 41 child deaths nationwide from the flu.
Last week, 33 schools had absentee rates greater than 10 percent this week, said a spokesman for Public Health -- Seattle & King County. Most absences were attributed to influenzalike illness, according to the health department.
Schools throughout the county were affected, with elementary and kindergarten-through-eighth-grade schools accounting for about 75 percent of the absenteeism reports, the department said.
Widespread outbreaks of noroviruses are being reported in schools and nursing homes around the state, as well.
Thursday, February 15, 2007 ? Last updated 3:28 p.m. PT
Seattle elementary student dies of flu-like illness
By JESSICA BLANCHARD and CASEY MCNERTHNEY
P-I REPORTERS
A second-grader at Laurelhurst Elementary School in Seattle has apparently died of complications from the flu, authorities reported Thursday.
The girl, who was in school yesterday, died Wednesday night at a hospital with "an influenza-like illness," said James Apa, spokesman for Public Health -- Seattle & King County.
Her death comes just a week after a 7-year-old Kent girl died from a rare complication associated with the flu.
Also last week, Bishop Blanchett High School canceled classes and shuttered its doors because almost 300 students had called in sick, many with symptoms similar to those caused by norovirus, often referred to as stomach flu.
Authorities identified the Laurelhurst student as Marija E. Alumbaugh. The King County Medical Examiner's Office has not yet determined the exact cause of her death.
The Kent girl, Sarah J. Horner, died Feb. 5 from heart tissue inflammation caused by the viral infection, the medical examiner concluded.
Horner's death was the first pediatric flu death in King County since 1999...
School staff members had already been taking steps such as cleaning classrooms in recent weeks because it's the height of flu season, Spencer said. Teachers had also been emphasizing the importance of handwashing and covering coughs to students, she said...
During the 2004-05 flu season, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 41 child deaths nationwide from the flu.
Last week, 33 schools had absentee rates greater than 10 percent this week, said a spokesman for Public Health -- Seattle & King County. Most absences were attributed to influenzalike illness, according to the health department.
Schools throughout the county were affected, with elementary and kindergarten-through-eighth-grade schools accounting for about 75 percent of the absenteeism reports, the department said.
Widespread outbreaks of noroviruses are being reported in schools and nursing homes around the state, as well.