A 7-year-old boy in Virginia died just two days after he began showing symptoms of the flu and strep throat.
Kevin Baynes, of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, passed away Sunday after being diagnosed with the flu and strep throat, WDBJ reports.
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According to the boy’s mother, Samantha Baynes, the 7-year-old had been sent home from school on Friday after he vomited and fell asleep in class. His mother allowed him to rest for the night to see if his condition would improve, but by Saturday morning, he couldn’t walk and wasn’t able to keep food down. The boy’s mother took him to a local emergency room, where doctors diagnosed him with the flu and strep throat. He was sent him with medicine for strep throat.
“We tried to give him the medication and everything we were supposed to do and he just wasn’t getting any better,” Samantha Baynes said.
On Sunday morning, Kevin Baynes’ older sister walked into his room to check on him and found him unresponsive. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.
According to WSET, Baynes was a student at Mt. Airy Elementary School. On Monday, superintendent Mark Jones sent a letter to parents stating that four schools had been disinfected Sunday night, along with buses after students had been dropped off at school Monday morning. Jones also sent parents a letter listing symptoms of the flu.
This is the letter sent out to parents. Jones says they don’t plan to close schools and that parents have nothing to worried about. He says nurse flu reports currently are minimal. pic.twitter.com/kYXdniUAm7
— Itinease McMiller (@IMcMillerNews) January 29, 2018
Kevin Baynes’ death isn’t the first this flu season, with the CDC reporting that more than 30 children have lost their lives to the flu. On Jan. 11, a 12-year-old boy in Michigan died after testing negative for the flu.
The flu has also claimed the lives of several adults, with a 27-year-old California woman passing away in December, and a 21-year-old body builder dying of organ failure due to septic shock caused by the flu that same month.
The CDC has categorized the 2017 to 2018 flu season as “moderately severe,” with a warning that it could get worse. They are urging the American people to get the flu vaccine, but warns that it only reduces the chances of contracting the virus by 10% to 60%. Furthermore, they point out that the more people who get vaccinated, the lower the risk to the community as a whole.
