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Marysville teen dies from flu
A young teenager from Marysville died from the flu, according to the Snohomish County Health Department.
EVERETT, Wash. - A young teenager from Marysville died from the flu, according to the Snohomish County Health Department. Officials with the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) said this is the first pediatric flu-related death of the 2025-2026 season.
"It’s always another level of tragedy when a child dies from flu," said Dr. James Lewis, health officer of the Snohomish County Health Department. "Our heart goes out to the family. It’s just a terrible thing to have happened, and I know it’s just got to be an incredibly difficult time for them."
What we know:
Lewis said when the Marysville teen became sick, they tried treating their flu symptoms at home.
"And then took a turn for the worst and had to go to the hospital and ultimately perished from the infection," said Lewis.
The health officer said it’s unclear if the child got their flu shot this season.
"But we did have records of them getting flu vaccines in the past. But we don’t know about this year," said Lewis.
Lewis said it’s also unclear if the young teen had underlying health conditions.
While it is not uncommon for kids to die from influenza, the CDC said it is relatively rare compared to older adults.
Local perspective:
Lewis said the Marysville child’s flu-related death raises questions.
"It is absolutely unusual, and it’s an absolute tragedy," said Lewis. "As we saw with COVID, and we see with a lot of flu seasons, there are these unusual severe illnesses and deaths that occur. And why that happens is very individual, and you’d have to dig into the exact situation that person had. And maybe they had underlying conditions that they weren’t even aware of that contributed to that increased risk."
The local health department said influenza transmission is widespread and has surpassed the epidemic threshold in Snohomish County, though this season is not as severe compared to the previous two seasons.
"We’re kind of at a plateau right now. The last couple weeks it’s been going down just a little bit," said Lewis.
By the numbers:
However, the health officer said the risk of infection remains a concern. According to the DOH, the vaccination rate is only 26.8% in Snohomish County as of January 26. That’s about 3% lower than the 2024-2025 season, and nearly 5% lower than the 2023-2024 season. Data from DOH also showed a continued decline in the statewide influenza vaccination rate.
Washington State Department of Health flu vaccine statistics
So far this season, 222 people in Snohomish County were hospitalized due to flu symptoms. Statewide, DOH confirmed 59 flu-related deaths.
Lewis advised members of the public to get a flu shot to help protect all lives of all ages from infection.
"We’re not out of the woods," said Lewis. "I think we could definitely see things starting to pick back up here in the next week or two."
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The Source: Information in this story came from the Snohomish County Health Department, Washington State Department of Health and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.