Ask the Pediatrician: Dr. Molly

Category: Cold and flu

H1N1/swine flu on pace to kill more kids than seasonal flu

The H1N1 (swine flu) virus is hitting many states hard, but lucky for us Michigan has yet to see widespread infection. As predicted, children are the most likely to have complications. In the last week, 19 deaths were reported among children with the infection.

Of the more than 75 children in the United States that have died of the illness thus far, 20 percent were otherwise healthy children with no risk factors. If the number of children dying of this virus remains at this pace, the H1N1 virus will surpass the seasonal influenza in deaths among children this year. Over the last several years, the number of children who have died as a result of the seasonal influenza have ranged from 46-88 deaths each year.

The good news is that so far all of the influenza seen this fall is H1N1 and remains very susceptible to the antiviral medications. More good news is that the Michigan Department of Community Health will begin distributing the vaccine in the coming weeks and we may be one of the few states that will be able to get most people vaccinated before the illness takes over. The H1N1 vaccine is highly recommended for all people 6 months-24 years of age, pregnant women and adults with chronic health conditions.

What about squalene?
Previous blog entries have addressed the safety of the H1N1 vaccine, its formulations and side effects, but one more question has been posed by several patients: what about squalene? Squalene is a naturally occurring substance that is made by all of us in our livers and used as an adjuvant in the vaccine to boost immune response. The squalene in the vaccine is culled from ocean fish and purified. Squalene has been well studied and is a safe and desirable way to boost response to the vaccine.

• Michigan gets first batch of swine flu vaccine