To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

RALEIGH -- Health officials are reporting a 6-year-old is the state's first flu death of the 2011-2012 flu season. The child died Feb. 4 and was at risk from the flu because of underlying medical conditions.
 
"Flu is a vaccine preventable disease. There is a vaccine out there for three of the strands every year and it's as simple as coming in and getting that show or that flu mist," said registered nurse Carla Turner.
 
Health officials haven't released if the child that died from the flu did or didn't have a vaccine, but they said it's a risk you shouldn't take. To protect the family's privacy the child's hometown, county and sex are not being revealed.
 
"Anything that you can do as a parent, as a grandparent, for your family member,s just encourage them to get that vaccine and to take those precautions like washing your hands and staying away from sick people," said New Hanover County Deputy Health Director Joshua Swift.
 
The flu has stayed sporadic across the state but state health officials urge people to still be prepared.
 
"There hasn't been that increase that we are use to seeing this time of year and I think people have almost a false sense of security that 'well it's not out there and we are going to be OK,' but that's the thing about any of these germs, we never know when we are going to see them," said Turner.
 
The flu season lasts well into the spring so health officials said there is still time to get the flu vaccine. Anyone over the age of six months is recommended for the vaccine.
 
It is particularly important for people at high risk of complications, including pregnant women, people with chronic diseases, very young children and the elderly. However, almost half of the children who died from flu last season had no known high risk conditions, so public health officials encourage flu vaccine even for those in good health.
 
Each year, influenza kills an estimated 25,000 people in the U.S. and causes more than 220,000 hospitalizations. Most influenza infections can be prevented by the simple act of getting the flu vaccine.
 
The state Department of Health and Human Services has recorded no other flu deaths since the infection season began in October. North Carolina's flu death toll by the same time last year was 14.