A child from Central Jersey has died due to complications from the flu, the first pediatric death since the flu season began in late October.

“I am deeply saddened for the family of this young child, who experienced an unthinkable loss,” said state Health Commissioner Dr. Shereef Elnahal.



The child died in late December, according to the New Jersey Department of Health, which confirmed the death Tuesday. The Department will not be releasing additional information due to privacy concerns.

During last year's flu season, 80,000 Americans died, including 180 children — 80 percent of whom were not vaccinated — according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Children, senior citizens, pregnant woman and people with weakened immune systems are at the highest risk for flu complications.

In light of a highly active flu season, some hospitals are taking steps to lower exposure to their patients.

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Hospital restrictions

At Englewood Health, sick visitors, including those who are experiencing fever, cough, sore throat, fatigue, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea, are not permitted on the hospital grounds. No visitors under 14 are permitted; those under 18 cannot visit the neonatal intensive care unit, adult ICU, labor/delivery areas or pediatrics.

Hackensack University Medical Center's heightened alert protocols are aimed at measles prevention rather than the flu, but plans are in place to mobilize flu protocols when deemed necessary, said Dr. Gary Munk, clinical director of clinical virology at the hospital. The hospital has had 200 confirmed cases of Influenza Type A, which include both H1N1 and H3N2 strains, since the start of the flu season.

At St. Mary's General Hospital in Passaic, restrictions imposed last week forbid anyone with signs of the flu to visit. All visitors under the age of 12 must wear surgical masks.

Rise in cases

Last year, influenza hit every state all at once, said Munk. This year, however, the flu is hitting different part of the country in “waves,” which started to ramp up in New Jersey around Thanksgiving and escalated around Christmas.

Although there is one strain, H1N1, currently hitting the area, there is a possibility of another strain, H3N2, coming during a later wave, said Munk. There were 268 cases of H1N1 confirmed at the end of December and 78 cases of H3N2, according to the state Department of Health's Respiratory Virus Surveillance Report.

“We might have sequences of waves, one after another,” said Munk. “That’s why people shouldn’t be complacent.”

The flu season started a little earlier this year, said Dr. Ashwin Jathavedam, chief of infectious disease at Englewood Health, who anticipates that it will be a “very busy season again.”

It’s not too late to get a flu shot — the best way to prevent contracting the virus — as the flu season will run through March, said Jathavedam. It’s also important for people to stay home if they begin suffering from any symptoms of the flu, such as fever, cough and congestion.

“Everyone has pressure to go to work, but when you go to work, that’s how it’s spread,” said Jathavedam. “You have to be attuned to your body aches.”