Why do kids end up hospitalized with the flu? Discover a few things you don’t already know.

 

What’s the main reason why children end up hospitalized for the flu, and how can a parent prevent that from happening?

Influenza is a respiratory illness and the most common reason for hospitalization is pneumonia, either from the primary viral infection or from bacterial secondary pneumonia, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). An average of 20,000 children younger than 5 years old are hospitalized annually for flu-related illness. Most healthy children fight off the flu with ibuprofen or acetaminophen, but if your child is having symptoms like chest pain with breathing, is working hard to breathe and is not eating, drinking and urinating, you should be concerned. The best way to prevent the flu is to have your child vaccinated each year.

Is it possible for a baby younger than 6 months to get the flu and if so, how is it treated?

Infants younger than 6 months are at the highest risk of complications since their lungs are small and their immune systems are not mature. The CDC reports that moms who are vaccinated when they are pregnant show a decrease in both hospitalizations and deaths from flu in their infants younger than 6 months of age. It is important for people caring for infants to be vaccinated. Treat the symptoms of flu in infants by keeping them well hydrated, either with their regular liquid feedings or an oral rehydration solution and keep nasal passages clear with humidifiers and normal saline nose drops.

A new study suggests obesity hinders the flu vaccine. Is that true for children as well?

Of the 115 pediatric deaths from flu last year, 46 percent were younger than 5 and two of the 115 were obese. While doctors say the study, published in the International Journal of Obesity, warrants further research, the findings add to a growing body of evidence that shows that obesity itself suppresses the immune system in both adullts and children. Morbid obesity (defined as a body mass index [BMI] greater than 40) is among the conditions identified as placing people at higher risk for complications from influenza by the CDC. With children, the BMI changes with age, so greater than 95th percentile for age is used.

 

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