A 3-year-old girl with underlying medical conditions died from swine flu Thursday morning, Dallas County health officials said.
Lab results confirming swine flu as the cause of death arrived Thursday afternoon, officials said.
The girl was taken Thursday morning to a hospital, where she died a short time later. Health officials declined to provide additional details about the girl’s location but said she did not attend any kind of day care and often stayed at home.
The girl had neurological and chronic lung disease, which made her more susceptible to infection, officials said.
The girl’s death is the fourth caused by swine flu in Dallas County this year and the second this week.
“We want to make sure parents are on the front lines of monitoring their kids,” said Zachary Thompson, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services.
On Monday, county health officials announced the death of 11-year-old Cynthia Garcia of Garland, a sixth-grader at Price Elementary School in the Mesquite school district who had contracted swine flu.
Her case was thought to be exceptional because she had no previous underlying medical condition, authorities said.
In August, swine flu claimed the lives of a 37-year-old man and 52-year-old woman. Both had underlying medical issues.
Dr. Wendy Chung, the county’s chief epidemiologist, said H1N1 is heavily affecting those 24 and under. More than three-quarters of confirmed swine flu cases in Dallas County have been in that age group, she said.
The swine flu vaccine, which was approved this week by the FDA, is scheduled to arrive in Dallas in early to mid-October.
“It can’t get here fast enough,” Thompson said.
People in one of five priority groups identified by the Centers for Disease Control, including children age 6 months to 24 years old, will receive the first doses.
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