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Published on: April 14, 2011
Influenza A infection in young infants
David Rekhtman1, Dana G Wolf, Floris Levy-Khademi
1Department of Pediatrics, Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, Mount Scopus, Israel.
Objective:
To determine the clinical characteristics of infants ≤2 months old hospitalised with influenza A.
Study Design:
The study was a retrospective analysis of infants ≤2 months old hospitalised with fever, respiratory distress and/or sepsis. Clinical signs, laboratory values, hospital duration and outcome were compared between children with influenza A and other viruses.
Results:
The charts of 268 infants were reviewed. 29 (11%) children had laboratory-confirmed influenza A infection. Unique features associated with influenza infection included the high number presenting with fever (97%) and a history of exposure to family members with a flu-like illness (69%). A significantly lower rate of respiratory distress was observed in the influenza group compared with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (24% vs 89%, p≤0.001). Median duration of hospitalisation for influenza was shorter than RSV (4 days vs 6 days, p<0.001).
Conclusions:
In young infants, influenza A is a relatively mild disease compared to RSV and is primarily associated with upper respiratory tract manifestations.
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