--- Gary Nunn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > John wrote.... > > In all of the news reports, they keep talking > about the > > number of people who have died from the flu so far > and how > > they are all children. As a parent of small > children of my own, does any one > > know what age those kids are? How concerned > should we be about this?
> My Kids are 9 and 2.5, and I had both of them > vaccinated last week. My 9 > year old daughter has mild asthma and is considered > high risk. My 2 year > old is supposed to get a second shot in 30 days, but > I suspect that they > will be out of vaccination by then. > > I looked over the news reports and the CDC website, > and although they > are somewhat vague, it appears that it is primarily > the high risk > children that have the highest mortality rate. By > high risk I mean kids > with severe asthma, suppressed immunity, less than > 24 months old, etc. > Although, there have been reports of perfectly > healthy 10 year olds kids > that didn't survive, but I really think that > occurrence is very rare. Colorado has had 9 documented flu-related child deaths, and 1 or 2 more are still being investigated; ages ranged from 22 months to ~15yo. Almost half of these children had no known underlying illnesses, while the others had various chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes and cancer. One complication that seems to be more of a problem this year is secondary infection (pneumonia, mostly) with *community-acquired* methicillin-resistant _Staphalococcus aureus_[MRSA]; this used to be primarily a hospital-acquired infection, so those without hospital exposure weren't at risk. MRSA infections have to be treated with different antibiotics than most primary care docs would ordinarily use for bronchitis or pneumonia -- they're more expensive, and some have to be given IV rather than orally. Here is one article with links: http://www.9news.com/storyfull.aspx?storyid=21811 (Because of CO's high rate of flu & related deaths, most of the local stations have put up doctor-assisted sites/info for the community.) Children, especially the very young, frequently have atypical symptoms as well: rather than a high fever with severe chills and body aches, they might have hoarse breathing, tummy ache with diarrhea, or a bad headache. They also seem to get dehydrated more easily (in a baby or toddler, a parent would notice decreased need for diaper changes). Since children have smaller airways than adults, and a smaller body volume, they do not tolerate clogged airways or dehydration as well (well, it's a little more complex than that, with children's immature immune systems a big factor, but you get the picture). For a healthy child over 5yo, an alternative to the shot is the nasally-administered vaccine (it's called FluMist); this is an attenuated live virus rather than a killed virus as in the shot, so cannot be given to a child with a compromised immune system. It is also more expensive than the regular shot. Of course, this year, there is a slight mismatch between the viral strains used to prepare the vaccine and one of the actual variety that's going around: the Fujian variant. Still, most experts think that getting the vaccine will result in a less-severe infection even with the mismatch. This is the CDC site, with multiple links and FAQs, including info on the nasal vaccine and maps outlining cases across the country (I think most states have set up websites on the flu, but you can see what's been reported to the CDC here): http://www.cdc.gov/flu/ To add to the confusion, there is apparently at least one other respiratory virus going around that can be confused with the flu; there are laboratory tests that can identify flu infection in less than an hour (with reasonable accuracy for such rapidity, but there can be up to 30% false-negative rate). Here is the CDC site on diagnosis: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/labdiagnosis.htm For reference, the flu and its complications kill from 20,000 to 36,000 people in the US every year; periodically a pandemic will sweep the world killing millions. (Frex the 1917-8 pandemic, which might have been a "fusion" virus rather than the pure human influenza virus; I've seen research leaning towards an avian or swine flu "pass-through." When humans and animals live in close proximity under poor sanitation & hygeine, some viruses 'jump' from one species to another: if an individual, human or animal, has an active infection with more than one influenza virus, there can be some mixing of genes, and the resultant virus might be even more virulent or communicable than the standard varieties. Of course, most such fusions probably are _less_ hardy, and unable to pass through one species into another, which is one of the reasons we don't have more pandemics. This is why the WHO and CDC pounced so hard on the SARS infection; many epidimiologists think we are past due for a bad pandemic.) I couldn't find any hard data on national child mortality from influenza (many researchers think infection rates are underreported in children), but it was listed in the top ten causes of mortality for children age newborn -> 9yo by the Texas Dept. of Health in 2000 (*not* in the top 5): http://www.tdh.state.tx.us/bvs/reports/00chfat/leadcaus.htm And from this 2000 CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr4903a1.htm "Estimated rates of influenza-associated hospitalizations have varied substantially by age group in studies conducted during different influenza epidemics: ">Among children aged 0-4 years, rates have ranged from approximately 500 per 100,000 population for those with high-risk conditions to 100 per 100,000 population for those without high-risk conditions. >Among children without high-risk conditions, rates differ substantially within the 0-4-year age group: babies aged <6 months have the highest hospitalization rate at approximately 1,040 per 100,000 population, and children aged 2-4 years are hospitalized at a rate of approximately 8-136 per 100,000 population. >Among children aged 5-14 years, rates have ranged from approximately 200 per 100,000 population for those with high-risk conditions to 20-40 per 100,000 population for those without high-risk conditions." For those outside the US, here is a WHO-related site: http://rhone.b3e.jussieu.fr/flunet/www/index.html I think I'd check out my local/state Board of Health site for numbers on local infections, and watch for evidence of dehydration, difficulty breathing, or lethargy in a young child if your state has a rising infection rate. And wouldn't hesitate to call my pediatrician if the child seems "off." Hope that's helpful. Debbi __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now http://companion.yahoo.com/ _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
