The Question:
What are the neurological consequences in children who contracted the H1N1 flu in 2009?
The Study:
Researchers at the Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, NY reviewed the hospital course of 164 children seen in their emergency room. All tested positive for H1N1.
The Results:
Of the 164 children, 31 were treated in the emergency room and sent home, 39 were admitted to the intensive care unit, and 94 were treated on the regular pediatric unit. Nearly 20 percent of the children experienced neurological complications including headache, encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), polyneuropathy (multiple nerve problems), seizures, and malignant hyperthermia (extremely high fever). Six of the children died.
Comment:
Influenza is not a trifling illness. Each year it kills 20,000-30,000 people—usually the young and the old. The flu usually hits children before it spreads to adults. The flu vaccine is the best protection from this potentially deadly infection.
Read More:
Journal of Child Neurology, 04/12
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