2 More Children, ages 7 and 12, Die From Dangerous Strain of Flu Virus

The flu has claimed the lives of two more children in the U.S. — a 7-year-old boy in Virginia and 12-year-old boy in Las Vegas.

Kevin Baynes Jr., 7, of Virginia, died Sunday, just a day after he tested positive for the flu and strep throat. Baynes was reportedly sent home from school on Friday after throwing up and falling asleep in class. 

At the emergency room on Saturday morning, he was diagnosed with the virus, reports said.

"He says, 'Mommy, mommy, I don't feel good,'" Samantha Baynes, his mother, told CBS6. "So I cuddled him."

He was unable to eat or sleep that day. On Sunday morning, his sister tried to wake him up, but he wasn't breathing. He was pronounced dead a short time later. 

Carlo Occhipinti Jr., 12, of Las Vegas, Nev., fell ill with a sore throat on Dec. 28. 

“I figured, you know, it might be strep throat," his mother, Brenda Occhipinti, told WJLA. "I was like, 'Here's some Tylenol. We'll go see the doctor.'" 

Two days later, the boy known to his family as "Junior" was diagnosed with the flu after it was revealed that he had a 103-degree fever. Twelve hours after the diagnosis, he was dead.

“He goes, 'Mom, I feel dizzy.' He landed on me. I was screaming for my 18-year-old daughter and the only one who came to help was my 10-year-old. So, she saw everything,” Occhipinti told the station. “So, when he landed on me, he stopped breathing. His body was so lifeless."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 37 children have died from the flu so far, compared to just eight this time last year.

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