A fifth-grader in Ashburn, Virginia, died last week after getting the flu, according to Creighton's Corner Elementary School.
Joshua Justin died Friday after spending several days in the hospital with a high fever.
Josh enrolled at Creighton's Corner this month after moving from Sanders Corner Elementary School.
School officials said Josh will be remembered for his "bright smile and caring attitude."
Visitation for Josh is planned at St. Theresa's Church in Ashburn from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Funeral services at the church will follow.
According to the Virginia Department of Health's weekly report, flu activity is widespread in the commonwealth over the past two weeks.
At Inova Alexandria Hospital, where the emergency room staff is working overtime to keep the flu under control, a strict visitation policy is in place, Northern Virginia Bureau reporter David Culver said:
- No more than two people per patient.
- No one younger than 16.
- Visitors may be asked to put on a mask.
- No visitors with any symptoms of influenza-like illness.
“We definitely are seeing a spike -- probably started around Thanksgiving and it’s been increasing ever since,” said Dr. Eric Reines, Inova Alexandria's chief of infection control.
He advises parents to keep their children home if they get a cough, fever or chills. As children head back to school next week, doctors are concerned the number of flu cases could climb.
While infants, young children and the elderly are at the highest risk, Reines also worries about college students living in close proximity to one another.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has formally delared the virus an epidemic. Its latest weekly flu report says 6.8 percent of deaths in 122 cities have been linked to “influenza-like” illnesses.
“The United States experiences epidemics of seasonal flu each year and right now, all of CDC’s influenza surveillance systems are showing elevated activity,” CDC spokeswoman Darlene M. Foote said in an email.
The report also specifically pointed to the H3N2 strain of the virus as the culprit in the latest outbreak.
This year’s flu vaccine protects against three to four strains of flu, H3N2 being one of them. However, the strain of H3N2 causing many to get sick has mutated and only about half of cases match the vaccine, the CDC has said.
“Usually we expect 80-90 percent efficacy with the flu shot,” Reines said. “This year it’s about 52 percent, so only covering about half the flu antigens we normally cover.”
The CDC still recommends unvaccinated people get the vaccine. The shot at least will lessen the symptoms and severity of the illness if not preventing it, Reines said.
