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Oklahoma records first flu-related pediatric death of season

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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The Oklahoma Department of Health says the state has recorded the first pediatric death of a record-setting flu season that has claimed the lives of 153 people.

Health officials said Thursday that 3,440 people have been hospitalized with flu-related symptoms since Sept. 1, and the number of deaths and hospitalizations in the state surpass any other flu season since the Health Department began tracking the illness in 2009. The previous record of 130 deaths was set during last year's flu season.

So far this season, more than 1,800 Oklahomans over the age of 65 and more than 400 under 18 have been hospitalized due to medical complications from the flu.

Health department records show that the vast majority of this season's flu-related fatalities, 105, were 65-years-old or older.

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