A Girl who was suffering from flu collapsed at her home and died in a hospital. Her death comes as the flu continues to spread across the state, and the season has not reached its peak yet.

10-year-old Payton Pierson, of Washington, Pennsylvania was laid to rest on Monday. She was among the 20 children who have reportedly died from the flu this year.

UPMC Children Hospital doctors have already seen hundreds of children suffering with the flu this year; they said most of the people who die from the flu are those, who were not vaccinated. It was still unclear if Payton was vaccinated or not.

Linda Higgins said that losing a child was awful, she works at the True Convenience, located down the street from Trinity South Elementary School, where Payton was a third-grader and Higgins’s niece is a student there.

Higgins knows the pain Payton's family is going through right now. She lost her son ten years ago.

"Anytime you lose a child, it is really, really sad. You just never get over it," Higgins said. "My heart truly goes out to those parents."

Dr. John Williams a pediatric infectious disease specialist wants people to understand three things, when it comes to children and the flu.

1.It's very common.

2.There's a spectrum which ranges from mild to death.

3.The flu vaccine is safe and effective.

Dr. Williams said the vaccine’s are not always perfect, they are 70 % effective, but 70 % is a lot better than zero.

He said if Parents feel that their child has worse than cold symptoms, contact a pediatrician.

There was no reason for parents to panic, if their child is breathing fine and not having high fever, drinking fluids are ok, Dr. Williams said. The child probably will be fine, he added most children are going to be fine.

Dr. Williams says the flu came little earlier this year, but the flu is in a good match with the vaccine, which is probably why there have been fewer deaths than in previous years.

Read more about the Flu in Pennsylvania

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