Flu can be serious in kids with neurologic disease

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Children with neurological or
neuromuscular diseases are at increased risk for developing
respiratory failure if they’re hospitalized with influenza, new
research shows.

This finding supports recent recommendations that such
children should be given an annual flu shot.

The results, which are reported in this week’s Journal of
the American Medical Association, are based on a study of 745
children who were hospitalized for influenza at The Children’s
Hospital of Philadelphia over four consecutive flu seasons.

In the study, Dr. Ron Keren and colleagues focused on the
impact that various chronic medical conditions had on the
development of serious influenza complications. Forty-three
percent of the subjects had at least one high-risk condition,
and 12 percent of the kids had a neurological disorder such as
muscular dystrophy or seizures.

Respiratory failure developed in 32 children (4 percent),
the report indicates. The researchers found that having a
neurological disorder increased the likelihood of respiratory
failure six-fold.

“These results support the Advisory Committee on
Immunization Practices’ recent decision to add neurological and
neuromuscular diseases to the list of conditions for which
annual influenza vaccine is recommended in children,” the
authors state.

They add, “Neurologists and primary care pediatricians
should be alerted to the increased risk of respiratory failure
and the importance of influenza vaccination in children with
neurological and neuromuscular diseases.”

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association,
November 2, 2005.