Critical Illness in Children with Pandemic H1N1 Influenza

Children with pandemic H1N1 influenza were more likely to have severe illness or to die if they had a preexisting chronic medical condition or a methicillin-resistant staphylococcal lung coinfection.

During the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, influenza incidence and illness severity were higher in children than in adults. However, the epidemiology of severe influenza-related illness in children has remained unclear because of the small sample sizes in previously published studies. To amass data on a large cohort, researchers established a registry of patients aged <21 years who were admitted with confirmed or probable pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1) influenza to a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at any of 35 major U.S. pediatric hospitals.

A total of 838 children admitted between April 2009 and April 2010 were included in the study: 545 (65%) with pH1N1 confirmed by polymerase chain reaction or viral culture, and 293 (35%) who tested positive for influen…

Reviewing Author

Robert S. Baltimore, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsInfectious Diseases in Children

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesMember Committee on Rheumatic Fever, Endocarditis and Kawasaki Disease

Robert S. Baltimore, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsInfectious Diseases in Children

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesMember Committee on Rheumatic Fever, Endocarditis and Kawasaki Disease

Critical Illness in Children with Pandemic H1N1 Influenza

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Reviewing Author