Today's Globe: child flu deaths, T rex's bird relatives, stress diet, Tufts dean, hepatitis C drug

State and federal disease investigators are tracking a disturbing increase in deaths among children stricken simultaneously with the flu and a hard-to-treat, fast-moving bacterial germ.

In the first analysis of proteins extracted from dinosaur bones, Harvard-affiliated scientists say they have established more firmly than ever that the closest living relatives of the mighty predator Tyrannosaurus rex are modern birds.

As the credit and housing crises rattle Wall Street, pressures over bigger workloads, job security, and shrinking nest eggs are upending diets and fueling unhealthy habits across the country.

British drug maker Shire PLC said Dr. Michael Rosenblatt (left), the dean of Tufts University's medical school, has joined its board of directors (fourth item).

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., the developer of telaprevir for hepatitis C, said the experimental drug was able to kill the virus in 82 percent of patients in a study who weren't helped by standard treatments.