Flu related deaths continue to climb in Travis County

Right now the Travis County health department says there are 32 reported flu related deaths in Austin. This means in the last 4 years, deaths have more than doubled. And at Dell Children's Hospital, kids being seen for flu-like symptoms is at record numbers.

The tents at Dell Children's were serving as an extra care site because there wasn't enough space inside the hospital.

Things are somewhat back to normal now, but just a week ago the hospital hit their peak. 380 kids were seen in a 24 hour period alone.

Dr. Eric Higginbotham, Medical Director of Dell Children's Emergency Dept. comments.

"Maybe a lot of kids are getting it, maybe because the vaccine isn't working well. It may just be because this one particular strain is much more likely to get you sick."

Last year in the United States, there were 110 kids who died from the flu. 53 so far this year.

Dr. Higginbotham says in 2 weeks he'll know for sure if the numbers will taper off locally and nationally when it comes to children being infected.