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2 children die of flu in Oregon

In this Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018 photo, St. Charles Bend emergency department staff tend to patients and work from a converted waiting area at the hospital in Bend, Ore. The waiting area in the emergency department has been used to treat and triage patients over the past few weeks to handle the increasing number of patients seen, mainly due to the flu. (Joe Kline / The Bulletin)
Associated Press

PORTLAND – Two children have died from the flu in Oregon, both younger than 10.

Oregon Health Authority spokesman Jonathan Modie says one child died in December and the other in early January. One was younger than 5.

He declined to say where the children lived.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the flu season is severe this winter, with 14 pediatric deaths as of the last week of December.

In Oregon, labs have confirmed nearly 6,000 cases this season. It runs from October to April.

The two pediatric deaths in Oregon equal the state’s total from the last three winters combined.

Southwest Washington state has also been hit hard.

Health authorities in Clark County, Washington, on Thursday asked people with flu symptoms to call their doctor before coming to the emergency room to reduce crowding.