Asthma in kids may be significant risk factor for severe H1N1: study
November 19, 2009
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Researchers at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children say asthma appears to be a significant risk factor for severe cases of disease in kids who get the pandemic flu virus, compared to seasonal flu.
Their new study – the second largest to date on the subject – was published online Thursday by the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
They compared the charts of 58 youngsters admitted with swine flu from May 8 to July 22 of this year to those of 200 kids with seasonal flu admitted from 2004 to 2009.
The data show that 22 per cent of children admitted with H1N1 had asthma compared with six per cent of those admitted with seasonal influenza.
Almost half of all admissions to the intensive care unit for H1N1 influenza were children with asthma.
The researchers say their findings should influence strategies for vaccination and pre-emptive antiviral therapy.
People with chronic conditions, including asthma, are among the priority groups that already have access to the H1N1 vaccine across Canada, including jurisdictions where clinics are not yet open to the general public.
thestar.com