Accounts for nearly half of paediatric ICU admissions
More children who have asthma get sick from H1N1 than seasonal flu, according to a new study by The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Between last May and July, 22 per cent of paediatric pandemic flu cases were children with asthma–compared to just six per cent for seasonal flu over the last five years. What’s more, asthmatic kids accounted for almost half of ICU admissions for H1N1. Most of the paediatric H1N1 patients were age five or older, and had a fever or cough. The median hospital stay lasted four days—the same for both types of flu. None of the H1N1 paediatric patients died, compared with one seasonal flu death. The researchers say that, given their study, asthma is a significant risk factor for admitting children with H1N1 to hospital.