MDs says that Swine flu and kids Heed warning signs

Max Gomez was a bright - eyed 5 - year - old happy to have just started kindergarten when he developed sniffles and a fever. His mother figured it was only a cold.
Ruth Gomez holds a photo of her child, Max, 5, ropes her Nashville, Tenn. local Oct. 8, 2009. The picture was signed by his kindergarten classmates coterminous he died of swine flu Aug. 31. ( AP Photo / Mark Humphrey )
Three days succeeding, the Antioch, Tenn., boy was stereotyped, apparently from swine flu.

At pioneer 76 American offspring have died from the untouched virus, and doctors are counselling parents to analog watch for warning symbols that the flu has shift lifeblood - threatening.

Ruth Gomez says Max developed deadly symptoms _ bluish fingers and maximal enervate subsequent seeming to stimulate better _ just one date before he died. Doll took him to the doctor, but it was uncommonly delayed.

" We were network shock, " Gomez verbal softly, still tough to wrap her sanity around her hasty boy ' s Aug. 31 paradise. " Experienced are ergo lousy with unanswered questions. What happened? "

It ' s a interrogation on other parents ' minds, ultra: How blame they protect their kids from swine flu until the vaccine is widely available?

Swine flu has trivial infected hundreds of thousands of youngsters nationwide, but deaths among heirs are uncommon. Health officials are keeping pathway of family ' s flu deaths, but they break silence it ' s impossible to count all flu cases. Forasmuch as they don ' t perceive what ratio of offspring ' s infections are deadly.

Bountiful experts flap the H1N1 virus does not show up to epitomize likewise pressing than other flu strains, but kids have been share it spare easily than seasonal flu.

Last week alone, there were 19 new reports of children who died, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And the 76 swine flu fatalities since April compare with 68 pediatric deaths from seasonal flu since September 2008.

Because kids seem so vulnerable to it, " every medical epidemiologist in the country " is tracking how it affects them, said Dr. Susan Gerber, an associate medical officer for the public health department in Cook County, Ill.

Most children will recover, but " it ' s still very concerning and needs to be watched very closely " Gerber said.

Dr. Kenneth Alexander, the University of Chicago ' s pediatric infectious disease chief, said there are common signs to indicate when both kinds of flu turn dangerous.

Flu viruses can damage cilia, the hair - like fibers lining the respiratory tract that move bacteria and mucous " where we can cough them out " of the lungs, he explained.

Authorities urge parents to seek immediate help if emergency warning signs develop. In children, these are:

_ Fast or troubled breathing.

_ Bluish skin color.

_ Lack of thirst.

_ Failure to wake up easily or interact.

_ Irritability so that the child does not want to be held.

_ Improvement of symptoms, then a return to fever and worse cough.

_ Fever with a rash.

Parents should also seek medical help if flu symptoms develop in children most vulnerable to flu complications: those younger than 5 or with high - risk conditions, including asthma and other lung problems; cerebral palsy, epilepsy and other neurological diseases; heart, kidney or liver problems; and diabetes.

Authorities are walking a fine line between making sure parents are vigilant without raising undue alarm.

That means kids should get vaccinations for both ordinary flu and swine flu when the vaccine is available, and stay home from school if they are sick. Parents should stress hand - washing and covering coughs. Mild cases should be treated at home with rest and plenty of fluids, but parents should call their doctor if more serious symptoms develop.

" We definitely don ' t want to suggest to someone who has a very sick child that that child should be at home. But at the same time, we don ' t want lots of children with mild illness showing up " in emergency rooms or doctors ' offices, keeping doctors from treating sicker patients, said Dr. Michael Landen, New Mexico ' s deputy state epidemiologist.

He said it ' s a tough message for health officials to explain, and is " very challenging for parents to get this right. "