The Maine Center for Disease Control is reporting the state's first flu-related child death this season.
The agency said the child, who had tested positive for influenza B, died on March 19.
It's among the 86 flu-related deaths the agency has recorded so far this season, up from 53 last season. flu-related hospitalizations have nearly doubled to more than 1,200.
Maine CDC epidemiologist Anna Krueger said the reason for the spike is unclear, but vaccination rates are down nationally.
"What we know this season is, on a national level, the vaccine uptake is lower than it was the three seasons prior," Krueger said. "It seems that particularly children have lower levels of vaccine uptake, at least compared to last season. However, adults do seem to be around the same percentage of people getting vaccinated."
Krueger said it's not too late to get vaccinated against the flu.
