RALEIGH, N.C. — State health officials report the season’s first flu-related death after a patient in western North Carolina died of complications from the illness.

The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services urged residents to get vaccinated against influenza, as well as COVID-19, in a news release Wednesday.

"With flu cases increasing and COVID-19 still with us, it is tremendously important for people to get a flu vaccine this year," state epidemiologist Dr. Zack Moore stated in the release.

State health officials did not identify the patient who died.

Cases of respiratory viruses have risen statewide, health officials said, and an increase in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has created a shortage of bed space at hospitals in the Triangle.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises everyone 6 months and older to be vaccinated annually for flu. Infections are most common from late fall to early spring.