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Page last reviewed: May 18, 2024
News Releases
A boy between the ages of 6 and 10 is the city’s first flu-associated pediatric death of the 2019-2020 flu season, the Houston Health Department confirmed today. The child, who had a pre-existing health condition, died in November.
The Houston Health Department encourages everyone ages six months and older to protect themselves, their family and community from the flu by getting a flu shot before the end of October.
The greater Houston area so far this year has experienced two disease outbreaks easily preventable by vaccines. Six children from counties surrounding Houston became infected in early 2019 with measles, a highly contagious disease that can prove fatal, and a mumps outbreak detected mid-year among county jail inmates now totals 20 cases.
As local flu activity increases, the Houston Health Department (HHD) encourages people to get a flu shot if they haven’t gotten one this flu season.
The Houston Department of Health and Human Services (HDHHS) will begin providing flu shots to people at high-risk of developing a serious case of influenza or influenza-related complications on Monday, Dec. 20.
Local public health authorities and infectious disease experts from the Texas Medical Center held a press conference today to provide an update on the local status of the national flu vaccine shortage. The vaccine shortage, caused by the failure of the pharmaceutical company Chiron to deliver 48 million doses of adult vaccine, has caused nationwide concern about the upcoming influenza season.