Crucial ‘tremendous flu’ signs to watch as toddler left ‘paralysed’ by bug
A killer virus has devastated the US, leaving no fewer than nine children dead and one two-year-paralysed after she fought for her life in hospital for several weeks
Sarah Lopez, just two years old, on a ventilator in hospital (Image: Handout)
Doctors have issued a stark warning after a deadly “super flu” surged across the US, paralysing a toddler and killing children as hospitals struggle to cope.
Health officials say the fast-spreading virus is driving one of the worst flu seasons in decades. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed at least nine children have died from flu so far this season.
Hospital visits for “flu-like” illness have now hit their highest level in nearly 30 years, sparked by a dangerous new strain of influenza A – H3N2 subclade K – a mutated variant ripping through communities during winter.
The aggressive bug has earned the nickname “super flu” because of how quickly it spreads and the brutal symptoms it causes, including soaring fevers, extreme exhaustion, intense body and muscle pain, a stubborn cough and crushing headaches.
The latest CDC data revealed that almost every state in the country had ‘high’ or ‘very high’ flu activity. People being taken to hospital due to flu were also up 54% compared to the week before.
Dr Juanita Mora, national spokesperson for the American Lung Association, told NBC Chicago just how severe it can be: “This new strain has symptoms of really high fevers. It has a really bad cough that won’t go away, very phlegmy, and also vomiting and diarrhoea and lots of joint aches as well as muscle aches.”
One devastating case involved two-year-old Sarah Lopez, who was hospitalised for weeks and left unable to move after developing transverse myelitis. This is a rare condition linked to viral infections like flu that disrupts signals between the spinal cord and the body, causing paralysis.
Her mum Kenia Lopez recalled the terrifying changes in her daughter’s condition, telling WSB-TV 2: “When I would say come here, she wouldn’t do it either. She would just throw her upper torso.
“Overnight, everything got worse. She couldn’t sit up on her own, she couldn’t talk, she couldn’t move pretty much anything, just her head a little bit.”
She later told Fox 5: “After a few hours of her being uncomfortable, we noticed that she really wasn’t moving her arms.”
Despite an initial hospital visit, Sara’s symptoms rapidly worsened. As paralysis spread through her body, she was rushed to Erlanger’s Children’s Hospital in Chattanooga.
“She couldn’t move at all, she could just move her head a little bit, she was completely paralysed,” Lopez said. Sara was placed on a ventilator for a week. Although she has now been discharged, she is still struggling to regain movement.
Her mum admitted the emotional toll has been immense, saying: “The support that we’ve received is kind of what has kept me going, because if it wasn’t for that, I tell myself every day, this is not something anybody would be able to deal with,” adding that Sara had not received a flu vaccine.
Doctors warn the worst may not be over yet. Dr Cecil Bennett of Newnan Family Medicine Associates said: “Unfortunately, we still have about two more months of flu season that we have to go through. So it’s not too late to get the flu shot.”
The CDC estimates 11 million people have already been diagnosed with flu this year and continues to urge anyone aged six months and over who hasn’t been vaccinated to get the jab as the “super flu” continues its deadly spread.
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