[leu25iso]

Notice that several of the children who died had no underlying condition.

[leu25iso]

However, CDC officials cautioned they will not know for sure until the season is over whether it caused more illness or death than usual in children.

If 93 are confirmed dead and the season is not over, everyone should know for sure about the more than usual deaths question.

[Born Conservative]

Back in October, our large Pediatric clinic was giving out very few flu vaccines. Those that we were giving were mainly to children with asthma and other chronic conditions. Now, we exhausted our supply last week, and people are calling up in a panic, looking for their children to get the vaccine. My stock reply is that we have flu season every year; this year it is earlier and may be more widespread, but if your child is otherwise healthy and DOES get the flu, odds are that he/she will recover completely.

People don't die directly from the flu. Rather, they usually die from a superinfection, that is, a bacterial infection that sets in along with the influenza (which is a virus). The bacterial infection is usually a pneumonia, and this may spread to the blood, causing overwhelming sepsis and then death (unless treated promptly and appropriately).

[TheDon]

The current flu outbreak may be the worst for young U.S. children in several years, some experts say, comparing it in Western states to the Hong Kong flu of 1968-69.

Then again, some experts say, it may not.