FW: FLU VACCINE FOR CHILDREN

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SOURCE:http://dailynews./headlines/hl/story.html?s=v/nm/19980911/hl/flu\

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Friday September 11 2:28 PM EDT

Flu can lead to encephalitis in children

NEW YORK, Sep 11 (Reuters) -- In young children, influenza can lead to

encephalitis -- inflammation of the brain -- and related complications,

according to results of a study published in the September 12th issue of

The Lancet. These findings suggest that vaccinating very young children

against the flu may lower their risks of developing encephalitis and

acute encephalopathy (disrupted brain functioning), write a team of

researchers led by Dr. Shinji Fujimoto of Nagoya City University Medical

School in Japan. While these complications appear to be rare, they

deserve to be more widely recognized, Fujimoto and colleagues write.

The researchers analyzed medical records, and blood and cerebrospinal

fluid samples from 10 children admitted to the hospital with either

encephalitis or acute encephalopathy that appeared to be flu-related.

The children ranged in age from 22 months to 4 years, and none had been

immunized against influenza. Among other methods, the researchers used

an analytic technique called polymerase chain reaction, to test for

traces of influenza types A and B in the patients' spinal fluid. The

researchers found evidence of recent influenza type A infection in six

of the children, and evidence of recent infection with influenza type B

in one child, Fujimoto's team reports.

Of the seven patients with evidence of influenza infection, all but one

had had generalized convulsions within 2 days of developing a fever, the

researchers write. Two of the children later died, one had short-term

moderate mental deficits, and the others recovered.

Our patients were very young, and such children with their first

influenza infection may be more at risk of influenza-associated

encephalopathy or encephalitis,'' Fujimoto and colleagues explain.

``There is a possibility that vaccination against influenza virus for

children aged younger than 5 years will prevent influenza-associated

encephalopathy or encephalitis.

SOURCE: The Lancet 1998;352:873-875.

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