Tuesday, April 28, 2009, 23:45 EDT (11:45 PM EDT)
CDCHAN-00285-2009-04-28-UPD-N
Interim Guidance - Children and
Pregnant Women who may be Infected with Swine-Origin
Influenza Virus: Considerations for Clinicians
New Interim Clinical Guidance for
the Treatment of Children
Little is currently known about how
swine-origin influenza viruses (S-OIV) may affect children. However, we know
from seasonal influenza and past pandemics that young children, especially
those younger than 5 years of age and children who have high risk medical
conditions, are at increased risk of influenza-related complications.
Illnesses caused by influenza virus
infection are difficult to distinguish from illnesses caused by other
respiratory pathogens based on symptoms alone.
Young children are less likely to have typical influenza symptoms (e.g.,
fever and cough) and infants may present to medical care with fever and
lethargy, and may not have cough or other respiratory symptoms or signs.
The new interim guidance for
clinicians on the prevention and treatment of swine influenza in young children
is available at http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/childrentreatment.htm
New Interim Clinical Guidance for
the Treatment of Pregnant Women
Evidence that influenza can be more
severe in pregnant women comes from observations during previous pandemics and
from studies among pregnant women who had seasonal influenza. An excess of
influenza-associated deaths among pregnant women were reported during the
pandemics of 1918 -1919 and 1957 - 1958. Adverse pregnancy outcomes have been
reported following previous influenza pandemics, with increased rates of
spontaneous abortion and preterm birth reported, especially among women with
pneumonia. Case reports and several epidemiologic studies conducted during interpandemic periods also indicate that pregnancy
increases the risk for influenza complications for the mother and might
increase the risk for adverse perinatal outcomes or
delivery complications.
The new interim guidance for
clinicians for the treatment of influenza in pregnant women is available at http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/clinician_pregnant.htm.
Background
Human infections with the newly
identified S-OIV that is spreading among humans were first identified in April
2009 with cases in the
Additional Information
For additional information about the
current influenza outbreak, see:
For additional information about
CDC's investigation of the current H1N1 outbreak, see http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/investigation.htm
This information is also available
by calling 1-800-CDC-INFO.
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