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Two girls suffer strokes after coming down with swine flu

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  • Two girls suffer strokes after coming down with swine flu

    Two young girls, aged 10 and 11, suffered strokes after coming down with the swine flu, Channel 10 reported Thursday night.

    "I had a feeling that something really wasn't right with me, a strange feeling," the 11-year-old girl told the television station. "I thought that my arm and my leg weren't mine. I thought that I was dreaming until I fell out of bed."

    At this point the girl's mother, called an ambulance and she was rushed to Kfar Saba's Meir Medical Center, where doctors determined that she had suffered a stroke.

    As she was being admitted to the intensive care unit, the 10-year-old girl arrived with the same complications.

    Health Ministry official Prof. Danny Englehurt explained though the incidents were very rare, they show that the H1N1 virus can be very severe, even in children and youth.

    He called on the public to get vaccinated against the virus.

    Breaking news about Satellite from The Jerusalem Post. Read the latest updates on Satellite including articles, videos, opinions and more.
    "The next major advancement in the health of American people will be determined by what the individual is willing to do for himself"-- John Knowles, Former President of the Rockefeller Foundation

  • #2
    Re: Two girls suffer strokes after coming down with swine flu

    The world "probably" in the linked text maybe explains some suspect cases shortly after pandemic vaccinations also:


    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,141667,00.html
    Flu Can Trigger Heart Attack, Stroke

    SOURCES: Smeeth, L. The New England Journal of Medicine, Dec. 16, 2004; vol 351: pp 2611-2618.


    Getting the flu could increase your risk of having a heart attack or stroke, but getting a flu shot probably won’t.

    The findings come from a new study examining the relationship between a current infection and heart disease risk.
    Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine report that heart attack and stroke risk rose sharply among study participants during the first few days following the diagnosis of influenza, pneumonia, bronchitis, and other respiratory tract infections. A less-pronounced increase in risk was seen among people who had urinary tract infections. However, getting a flu shot or other vaccination did not appear to increase risk.
    The study offers some of the first clinical evidence of a direct association between current infection and the inflammation it creates and cardiovascular risk.
    “There has been a lot of anecdotal evidence suggesting that acute infection can help trigger heart attack and stroke,” researcher Liam Smeeth, PhD, tells WebMD. “But ours is certainly the largest study to show this association.”


    The Inflammation Link


    There is growing evidence that chronic inflammation plays a role in atherosclerosis, a key factor in heart attack and stroke risk. However the cardiovascular impact of transient inflammation, such as that seen during an infection, has not been extensively studied. Being vaccinated against illnesses such as flu, pneumonia, and others also causes inflammation to occur, but to a lesser extent.


    In an effort to determine what, if any, role short-term inflammation plays in heart attack and stroke risk, Smeeth and colleagues looked at the medical records of roughly 20,500 cases of first-time heart attack victims and 19,000 first-time stroke patients. They analyzed the risk of these heart disease-related events after vaccinations and commonly occurring infections.
    Their findings are reported in the Dec. 16 issue of the New EnglandJournal of Medicine.
    The researchers reported no increase in the risk of cardiovascular events among people who received vaccinations to prevent flu, tetanus, or pneumonia and meningitis.
    The cardiovascular disease risk was greatly elevated, however, among people suffering from respiratory tract infections.
    A fivefold increase in heart attacks and a threefold increase in strokes were reported during the first three days following the diagnosis of a respiratory infection. The risk declined over time, and was almost back to normal within one to three months of recovery from the illness. A smaller increased risk of heart disease-related events was also seen among patients with urinary tract infections.

    Heart Attack, Stroke Risk Is Small


    Recent research shows high-risk people can lower their risk of heart attack, stroke, and death by getting a flu shot. The U.K. study’s findings offer reassurance to people who take that advice, Smeeth says.
    “This certainly reinforces the notion that people at high risk should be vaccinated against the flu and that they should do everything else they can to protect themselves,” he says.
    American Heart Association past president Valentin Fuster, MD, adds that while the new findings offer the best evidence yet of a link between infection-related illness and cardiovascular events, it is important not to scare people unnecessarily. Fuster studies inflammation and heart disease as director of the Cardiovascular Institute at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.
    “This study shows that acute infection can trigger heart attack and stroke, but it is important to remember that the risk is very small,” he says. “People should not think that they are going to have a heart attack if they get a cold or the flu.”



    By Salynn Boyles, reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD
    SOURCES: Smeeth, L. The New England Journal of Medicine, Dec. 16, 2004; vol 351: pp 2611-2618. Liam Smeeth, PhD, department of epidemiology and population health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London. Valentin Fuster, MD, past president, American Heart Association; director, Cardiovascular Institute, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City.




    _____




    Temporal relationship between influenza infections and subsequent first-ever stroke incidence

    Age and Ageing Advance Access published online on November 21, 2008

    Excerpt:

    "Conclusion
    An unadjusted statistical link between influenza infections<sup> </sup>and first-ever strokes was observed. However, a peak of ischaemic<sup> </sup>strokes could also be observed in early autumn that is unlikely<sup> </sup>to be related to influenza. We unfortunately lacked information<sup> </sup>on additional seasonal factors such as temperature, humidity,<sup> </sup>weather patterns or RSV infections that should also be considered<sup> </sup>in future studies. Additionally, other acute infections were<sup> </sup>also reported to be related to first-ever strokes; general rather<sup> </sup>than influenza-specific inflammatory responses might be instrumental.<sup> </sup>Since both ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke were associated<sup> </sup>with preceding influenza, exact mechanisms of acute infections<sup> </sup>and subsequent vascular disease have to be further disentangled.<sup> </sup>
    <!-- null -->
    Key points

    • Excess of deaths from cardiovascular disease in winter months<sup> </sup>have been described, but only one study reported a relationship<sup> </sup>between respiratory infections and total stroke incidence without<sup> </sup>considering the subtype.<sup> </sup>
    • A seasonal trend for ischaemic strokes<sup> </sup>with three peaks in winter,<sup> </sup>early spring and early autumn could<sup> </sup>be observed, while there<sup> </sup>was only one long-lasting late winter/early<sup> </sup>spring peak for<sup> </sup>haemorrhagic strokes.<sup> </sup>
    • There was a significant<sup> </sup>increase of ischaemic strokes within<sup> </sup>2 weeks after influenza<sup> </sup>infection and within 4 weeks after infection<sup> </sup>for haemorrhagic<sup> </sup>strokes."<sup> </sup>

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