Why are Australian children dying from the flu and what can we do to prevent it?

State health authorities say they have seen high infection and hospitalisation rates in children, with concerns over high rates of unvaccinated children. Photograph: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

Health authorities are urging more young people to get the flu vaccine amid warnings that children are at heightened risk from influenza strains circulating this season.

An 11-year-old Queensland girl was the second young person reported to die from influenza this week, after a student on the New South Wales Central Coast died days after contracting the virus.