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Heartbreaking: a 5-year-old girl from Las Vegas died from cardiac arrest Tuesday just one day after she started showing symptoms of influenza A. Little Kiera Driscoll had reportedly received a flu shot earlier this season for the exact strain that killed her.
Kiera's parents say she started coughing and came down with a fever on Monday, so they took her to see a doctor, who prescribed steroids and a nebulizer. But that same day, the kindergartner reportedly collapsed. Her mother administered CPR as they waited for an ambulance to rush her to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead the next day.
Kiera's grieving aunt said she was a healthy girl who was perfectly fine in the days leading up to Monday. She had also been vaccinated for the flu, but as most of us have heard by now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that this year's flu shot is only effective 23 percent of the time because the H3N2 strain keeps mutating.
It's impossible to imagine the pain this family feels. A Fundly page has been set up to help them cover Kiera's funeral and medical expenses. Kiera's relatives have described her as a sweet girl who loved "hugs, rainbows, ponies, kittens, princesses, purple, unicorns, and everything magical."
More from The Stir: Dad Says Daughter Died Because She Didn't Get a Flu Vaccine
Sadly, Kiera is one of at least 56 children in 23 states who have died from the flu since September 28, according to the CDC. The organization still recommends that people get the flu shot because it could offer protection against drifted viruses and reduce the chances that a person will have to be hospitalized.
Are you surprised this child died of the flu despite having received a flu shot?
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