Las Vegas NowH1N1 Virus Hitting Children Hard

H1N1 Virus Hitting Children Hard

As the spread of h1n1 rises, so does the concern of parents. Nationwide, 114 children have lost their lives to the virus. In Clark County, child hospital visits are up and one doctor says the symptoms of H1N1 are more severe than he's seen with the seasonal flu.

For Katie Prasek, keeping up with three young boys is not easy. Not only does she have to watch their every move, she's got to figure out a way to keep them healthy. To be safe, she is planning to get her kids vaccinated.

"I knew all along we are going to get it, it's just a matter of time," said Prasek.

Director of Sunrise Children's Hospital Dr. James Swift says immunizing is the key to keeping children safe. He says Sunrise has seen a 20 percent increase in the number of children they're treating and the majority of them are suffering from flu-like symptoms.

"The reality is that we are seeing more severe disease and more severe hospitalization associated with that than we have with the regular flu. Again, most of the cases are mild but this is a much more severe illness when they do have it and when they do present to the hospital," Dr. Swift said.

And though Clark County has yet to have a pediatric death due to H1N1, Dr. Swift says unfortunately, a child death is probably inevitable. He says more children are being admitted to the intensive care unit than he's used to seeing in year's past. In addition to fever and cough, he says there are signs in children that parents should watch for.

"Traditionally people look at the cough, the fever, the congestion. We've seen a large number of children with diarrhea and dehydration as their predominant feature of H1N1," Dr. Swift.

He also cautions parents to watch for extreme irritability as a warning sign.

"If those symptoms progress to where they have change of color around their lips, they have a period of rapid, then shallow breathing or they can't seem to catch their breath, those are important factors to come in and be seen," he said.

He says most H1N1 cases can be treated with the proper fluids but if symptoms persist, parents should call the pediatrician. The majority of children who have died from the virus had underlying medical conditions.

Government health officials say studies show the H1N1 vaccine is safe and effective even for pregnant people.

Health officials says millions of people have received the vaccine without problems. Dr. Anthony Fauci with the National Institutes of Health also stressed that a study of pregnant woman found more than 90 percent of the patients who got the vaccine responded well to the shot.