El Paso woman in her mid 20s dies of the flu; had been vaccinated against influenza virus

An El Paso woman in her mid 20s – and who had been vaccinated against the influenza virus – is the second flu-related death in the area this season, the El Paso Department of Public Health announced Thursday.

Health officials said the woman was in her mid-20s and had no known underlying medical conditions. An epidemiologist investigating the case said the woman had been vaccinated against the influenza virus.

“This very difficult news to deal with, as is any loss of life,” said Fernando Gonzalez, Lead Epidemiologist. “The only thing that could make this even worse is if our community assumes that this means the vaccine is ineffective, when we know that this is not the case.”

As of the second week of January, the number of flu cases in El Paso is 2,946, health officials said. That is compared to 3,377 at the same time last season.