By John Ballard
An otherwise healthy seven year old has died in Georgia with H1N1. Statistically rare, but not insignificant. Our children deserve all the protection we can provide.
Via Crawford Killian a link from Bloomberg.
The new H1N1 influenza strain has killed at least 3,917 people and spread to 191 countries and territories since its discovery in Mexico and the U.S. in April. Hospitals in the Northern Hemisphere are bracing for a surge in flu cases in coming weeks, spurred by colder weather that promotes its spread. In Australia, flu patients occupied a quarter of beds in intensive-care units last winter and 178 died. (...)
In most cases, flu remains in the nose, throat and bronchi, where it causes a runny nose, sore throat and cough until the body�s immune systems eliminates it, usually within a week.
The new H1N1 strain may be at least 1,000 times more adept than seasonal flu at infiltrating the lower branches of the airway, said Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a virologist at the University of Tokyo, who has studied the viruses in non-human primates.
In severe cases, influenza can damage the capillaries surrounding the tiny grape-like sacs, known as alveoli, where gas is exchanged through the blood. Damaged alveoli can bleed, causing pulmonary hemorrhage and blood clots.
Inflammatory chemicals are produced by the immune system to fight the infection and repair the damage. An over-exuberant response can worsen the effect by filling the lungs with fluid and cause permanent scarring that restricts the lungs.
More at the link.
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