CHICAGO (AP) -- A new government report finds that more children
have died from flu because they also had staph infections.

The number of deaths wasn't high -- 73 during the 2006-07 flu
season -- but there was more than a fivefold increase in
hard-to-treat complications.

Public health officials say the numbers underscore the
importance of a brand new recommendation that all children, from 6
months through 18, get routine flu shots.

Staph germs commonly live in the nose or skin without causing
illness. These bugs can become deadly when they get into the
bloodstream, sometimes through wounds.

Lynn Finelli, a researcher for the CDC and the study's lead
author, says the flu is thought to make people more susceptible to
bacterial infections like staph.

The study appears in the October edition of Pediatrics.