Acute appendicitis in a child with swine influenza (H1N1)

Swine flu is a multisystemic disease and can affect the gastrointestinal system. There are only three published reports of swine flu cases with acute appendicitis; two of them in children under 16 years of age. We present an unusual case of acute appendicitis in a child already diagnosed with swine flu infection. A 9½-year-old girl presented with febrile illness and mild abdominal pain. PCR (+) was positive for H1N1. 3 days after hospital admission she developed acute appendicitis and was operated on. On the fourth postoperative day she developed right upper lobe atelectasis; she was started on antiviral treatment to which she responded very well. She was discharged on day 7 without further consequences in her postoperative course. Children with swine flu may be susceptible to rapidly deteriorating and complicated acute appendicitis. This calls for more caution especially in periods of epidemics.