Per a new report, a Mobile home family is mourning the loss of their 4-year-old daughter who unfortunately succumbed to flu complications and died last weekend. A K3 student at UMS-Wright Preparatory School, Anna Kate Wilkerson passed away February 1, Saturday. Her father, Kevin, then made a public statement mourning the loss of his daughter, confirming that she got diagnosed with flu and unfortunately wasn’t able to fight off the complications. He also thanked the Mobile community for their continued support, as well as the UMS community. Wilkerson’s death came just two weeks after Tim Anderson, who’s a deputy in Mobile County, was hospitalized since he was already in a critical condition because of the flu. As confirmed by his wife, Anderson reportedly didn’t have himself vaccinated this year despite various warnings from health officials. As for the Wilkerson family, a GoFundMe was created for any expenses that they may have in the future. Anna Kate Wilkerson’s funeral on the other hand, will be held this coming Sunday, February 9, at Christ United Methodist Church beginning at 2 p.m. CST. Major Threat The loss of Anna Kate Wilkerson is just one of the countless lives of children and adults that have been lost to the current flu season. Dubbed as the worst flu season to data, the virus has already managed to infect 19 million Americans, hospitalized 180,000 of them and managed to kill an estimated 10,000 in the U.S. alone, 68 of which are children. In contrast, the current coronavirus epidemic from Wuhan, China, has infected around 28,000 people and killed around 565, per the latest statistics provided by Johns Hopkins University. However, its numbers continue to rise as well. “Flu is by far the thing we should be worried about because it’s the thing we’re more likely to encounter. If you’re a child, elderly, frail, or have COPD or heart failure, your risk of mortality is actually pretty high with the flu. Your risk of coronavirus — it’s 12 cases in the U.S. — you’re pretty unlikely to come into contact with them,” Iahn Gonsenhauser, MD, chief quality and patient safety officer at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, said. Health care experts recommend that everyone 6 months and older – including the elderly, chronically ill people, and expectant mothers – receive the flu vaccine as soon as it becomes available. U.S. Department of Defense. Source
