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Flu cases could rise as kids return to school

It's not too late to vaccinate.

CLEVELAND — If you dropped your kids off at school on Monday, you may have heard a lot of sniffling in the halls.

Flu season is in full swing and experts warn it could still get worse now that winter break is over.

“It’s out of control,” said Dr. Amy Edwards, an infectious disease specialist at University Hospitals.

Dr. Edwards said she has never seen so many kids with the flu, especially flu B.

“There’s just a lot of cases and the kids are coming in sick,” she said. “The strange thing is, it’s healthy kids that are coming in sick.”

The Centers for Disease Control reports 6.4 million illnesses so far this season, 55,000 hospitalizations and nearly 3,000 deaths tied to flu.

They include 16-year-old Kaylee Roberts, a student at Berea-Midpark, who passed away on New Year’s Eve.

RELATED: CDC reports influenza in Ohio is 'widespread'

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Doctors say the flu is even more dangerous to kids than the common cold and that their age makes them vulnerable.

Dr. Edwards says the most important thing you can do is to vaccinate your child and stresses it is not too late to do so.

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