Bird Flu Planning for U.S. Kids Called Inadequate

[Sally Furniss]

From backup forum thanks Dutchy :tiphat:

Bird Flu Planning for U.S. Kids Called Inadequate (Update2)

By Justin Blum

Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. has done too little to protect children from a possible bird-flu outbreak, according to a report that says the government should study medications and respirator masks for kids.

Two antiviral treatments that may help fight the disease haven't been approved for children younger than 12 months, and there aren't enough drugs stockpiled for older kids, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Trust for America's Health said in the report released today.

A pandemic flu could result in as many as 1.9 million deaths in the U.S., according to the report. Children and adolescents may be especially susceptible. Forty-six percent of the 201 people who died from bird flu worldwide from late 2003 through Oct. 2 this year were younger than 20 years, the groups reported. None of the deaths was in the U.S.

``The country has not put enough thought or attention into how to protect'' children, said John S. Bradley, a doctor who serves on the infectious disease committee of the pediatricians' group, in a conference call with reporters.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, based in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, represents 60,000 pediatricians. The Trust for America's Health is a nonprofit advocacy group based in Washington that focuses on disease prevention.

Government Response

The government has done a ``significant amount'' of planning for children and will consider the groups' recommendations, said Holly Babin, a spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Department, in an interview.

``We are committed to ensuring that children are protected in the event of a pandemic influenza, and we have taken steps toward that,'' Babin said.

Concerns about a worldwide outbreak of lethal influenza have risen as the H5N1 virus has spread from Asia to Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The virus has infected 331 people in a dozen countries since 2003, killing 203, the World Health Organization said today. Indonesia had 88 deaths, the highest number of any country. No illnesses have been reported in the U.S.

The virus may spark a global outbreak if it mutates to become as infectious to humans as seasonal flu.

The U.S. has a stockpile of 100,000 courses of antiviral drugs for children and adolescents that would be used to treat the flu, compared with a population of 73.6 million, according to the report. Children are known to be disproportionately affected by contagious respiratory ailments, the groups said.

Child-Size Masks

The government recommends that the public consider using a certain type of respirator mask during an outbreak. The masks aren't made in children's sizes, and the U.S. should convene a task force to make recommendations about the use of protective equipment in children, according to the report.

The U.S. also should conduct new studies on vaccines in young children and antiviral medications, which include Roche Holding AG's Tamiflu and GlaxoSmithKline Plc's Relenza, in infants, according to the report.

Educators and public health officials need to plan for the creation of ``influenza-free'' day care centers that would allow parents to continue to work when their kids are sick, according to the report. The centers should have rapid testing for children who display flu symptoms.

Government flu planners need to consider that many children from low-income families receive free breakfast and lunch at school, according to the report. ``If a flu pandemic resulted in school closures, steps would need to be taken to ensure that children continue to receive proper nutrition,'' the groups said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Justin Blum in Washington at jblum4@bloomberg.net .

Last Updated: October 17, 2007 16:37 EDT

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601202&sid=a0LnRsS.F6pw&refer=healthcare

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Bird Flu Planning for U.S. Kids Called Inadequate

Dutchy :tiphat:


US bird flu plans failing children, report says

17 Oct 2007

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - U.S. plans for an influenza pandemic have failed to take into account children, who will likely be among the biggest spreaders of the disease and its most vulnerable victims, health experts said on Wednesday.

Federal and state governments have not stockpiled nearly enough flu-fighting drugs, and no one has laid out a coherent plan for what to do with tens of millions of schoolchildren if schools and day-care centers are closed, the experts said.

And no federal policies have addressed the issue of parents who would have to choose between losing pay or caring for their children, according to the report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Trust for America's Health.

"We at this point are not adequately prepared to insure the health and well-being of our nation's children if and when a pandemic strikes," Dr. Henry Bernstein, chief of pediatrics at Children's Hospital at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, told reporters in a telephone briefing.

"How will children be able to miss school for extended periods of time? Who will care for them when they are out of school?" Bernstein asked.

"How do we expect kids to stop congregating outside of school? ... We need to think now while there is still time to prepare."

Health experts almost universally agree that the world is overdue for a pandemic of influenza. Such global epidemics strike three times in a century, on average, when a new strain of influenza emerges that humans have no immunity against.

No one can say when or what strain will cause the next one, but the main suspect now is the H5N1 avian flu virus that has killed 203 people in 12 countries since 2003. It has infected 331, giving it a 60 percent fatality rate. Nearly half, or 46 percent, of the victims have been children.

LACKING DETAILS

Governments have been planning for such a pandemic for at least two years but experts complain the U.S. federal plan, available on the Internet at http://www.pandemicflu.gov, lacks needed details.

The report, published at the non-profit Trust's Web site at http://www.healthyamericans.org, notes that while there are 73.6 million children in the United States, there are only 100,000 courses of flu drugs for children in the Strategic National Stockpile.

"Neither of the two antiviral drugs that have been shown effective against H5N1 are licensed for children younger than 1 year of age," the report added.

And how would children who rely on school meals get fed if schools closed -- one of the recommended measures to help slow the spread of influenza, they asked?

"All schools should educate students in infection control," the report recommends -- a measure that would help right away in reducing seasonal colds and flu, too.

The Trust's Jeff Levi said that 50 percent of Americans have no sick leave. They may send their children to unlicensed care givers if schools and licensed day-care centers close.

"There is little realization that there are unlicensed day-care centers that can't be closed officially that operate under the radar screen, which is where all these kids would be going," said Dr. John Bradley of Children's Hospital San Diego, another member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Disease.

They will almost certainly spread influenza among themselves and then bring it home to their parents, he said.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N17347556.htm