RALEIGH -- New numbers from the state reveal that five more people have died from the flu in North Carolina, bringing the state total for the season to 27. Epidemiologist Dr. Zach Moore says you still have time to protect yourself against this strand of the flu.

Dr. Moore added, "When we look at deaths in children, about half of the children who die from flu didn't have any kind of medical condition you could point to...For most people it's not a severe illness. It can be, and it's not really a chance you want to take."

On Monday, state health officials said an infant from eastern North Carolina was the first child to die from the flu this year. They are not included because the child died two days after the period when deaths are counted. That death will be accounted for in next week's figures.