Here's what one little child had to go through when the swine flu overwhelmed her lungs. This is a risk in young children and a major reason why H1N1 shots are recommended for children. As I have written before, the nasal H1N1 vaccine has some limitations and should never be given to anyone with an asthma or lung disease history. Read this article posted on MSNBC.com. The vaccine shot does not have this limitation.
76 children have died of H1N1 this year, some with no pre-existing medical problems. Pregnant women are also dying along with their unborn child.
This lung problem can also occur in adults and pregnant women if they get an H1N1 infection. Because testing for flu is totally unreliable at present I am no longer relying on the nasal test to detect flu. But many doctors still do this and accept the negative result as proof the patient does not have H1N1 infection. If you have the symptoms of H1N1 but are told you are not infected on the basis of a negative nasal swab test, I'd get another opinion.
Although the majority of people I see with H1N1 infections still have mild infections and respond quickly to Tamiflu, the infection can last 7-9 days without treatment, which is an unacceptable loss of income to anyone in this economic climate.76 children have died of H1N1 this year, some with no pre-existing medical problems. Pregnant women are also dying along with their unborn child.
The highest risk groups are pregnant moms (because their immune systems are depressed by pregnancy), children under 5, children under 17 in that order.
And to give you some local numbers, in the first week of October of all the patients I saw in the office, 10 percent had H1N1.
drBob
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