Giuseppe
Emeritus
[Source: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal, full page: (LINK). Abstract, edited.]
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Volume 18, Number 11?November 2012
Research
Unchanged Severity of Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 Infection in Children during First Postpandemic Season
Mathias Altmann, Lena Fiebig, Silke Buda, R?diger von Kries, Manuel Dehnert, and Walter Haas
Author affiliations: Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany (M. Altmann, L. Fiebig, S. Buda, M. Dehnert, W. Haas); and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit?t, M?nchen, Germany (R. von Kries)
Abstract
We conducted a nationwide hospital-based prospective study in Germany of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 cases among children <15 years of age admitted to pediatric intensive care units and related deaths during the 2009?10 pandemic and the 2010?11 postpandemic influenza seasons. We identified 156 eligible patients: 112 in 2009?10 and 44 in 2010?11. Although a shift to younger patients occurred in 2010?11 (median age 3.2 vs. 5.3 years), infants <1 year of age remained the most affected. Underlying immunosuppression was a risk factor for hospital-acquired infections (p = 0.013), which accounted for 14% of cases. Myocarditis was predictive of death (p = 0.006). Of the 156 case-patients, 17% died; the difference between seasons was not significant (p = 0.473). Our findings stress the challenge of preventing severe postpandemic influenza infection in children and the need to prevent nosocomial transmission of influenza virus, especially in immunosuppressed children.
-Research
Unchanged Severity of Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 Infection in Children during First Postpandemic Season
Mathias Altmann, Lena Fiebig, Silke Buda, R?diger von Kries, Manuel Dehnert, and Walter Haas
Author affiliations: Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany (M. Altmann, L. Fiebig, S. Buda, M. Dehnert, W. Haas); and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit?t, M?nchen, Germany (R. von Kries)
Abstract
We conducted a nationwide hospital-based prospective study in Germany of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 cases among children <15 years of age admitted to pediatric intensive care units and related deaths during the 2009?10 pandemic and the 2010?11 postpandemic influenza seasons. We identified 156 eligible patients: 112 in 2009?10 and 44 in 2010?11. Although a shift to younger patients occurred in 2010?11 (median age 3.2 vs. 5.3 years), infants <1 year of age remained the most affected. Underlying immunosuppression was a risk factor for hospital-acquired infections (p = 0.013), which accounted for 14% of cases. Myocarditis was predictive of death (p = 0.006). Of the 156 case-patients, 17% died; the difference between seasons was not significant (p = 0.473). Our findings stress the challenge of preventing severe postpandemic influenza infection in children and the need to prevent nosocomial transmission of influenza virus, especially in immunosuppressed children.
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