# 3700
With so much to catch up on (amazing what piles up after 48 hours away), I’m going to rely (as I often do) on Lisa Schnirring’s always excellent reporting for CIDRAP – this time on yesterday’s MMWR report on child deaths from the H1N1 virus.
CIDRAP news is consistently one of the best resources on the net for H1N1 (and H5N1) information, and their Novel H1N1 Influenza (Swine Flu) overview is constantly updated, and second to none.
CDC report sheds light on pandemic H1N1 deaths in children
Lisa Schnirring
Staff Writer
Sep 3, 2009 (CIDRAP News) – Though the pandemic H1N1 virus never faded from the scene during the summer, illnesses are starting to pick up again, particularly in the southeastern states where school has already started, Thomas Frieden, MD, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.
Frieden's comments came the same day the CDC released a report on pediatric deaths from novel H1N1 infections in children, which seem to be striking those with neurodevelopmental conditions the hardest and showing a bacterial pneumonia coinfection pattern, even in previously healthy children. The report appears in the Sep 4 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
Though there's no sign that novel H1N1 is becoming more deadly, the CDC is vigorously monitoring the virus and is prepared to change its approach to fighting the virus if needed, Frieden said.
CDC. Surveillance for pediatric deaths associated with 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus infection, United States, April-August 2009. MMWR 2009 Sep 4;58(34):941-7 [Full text]
