pemom
10-29-2008, 09:46 PM
Richard Kanowitz told me a story that is every parent's nightmare: He and his wife put their 4-year-old daughter, Amanda, to bed sick one night, and "in the morning, she was gone." Amanda had died of influenza B, the plain old seasonal flu.
The Kanowitzes had called their pediatrician that evening because Amanda was pale and sluggish. The doctor told them that if they kept Amanda hydrated she'd be OK. In almost every case, that would have been true. But children do die of the flu; 83 children died last year, and 92 percent of them had not been vaccinated. Most of them had been healthy, like Amanda.
Doctors don't know why the flu occasionally turns vicious. One theory is that the immune system in healthy people can overreact when faced with a new virus, and that immune system reaction is what proves fatal. It's the theory for why the majority of the people who died in the 1918 flu epidemic were young.
Ever since Amanda died on March 1, 2004, the Kanowitzes have made it their crusade to ensure that every eligible child gets a flu shot. They lobbied the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to recommend flu shots for all children, which the feds did for the first time this year. "Our long-term goal is to convince parents to take flu seriously and get their children vaccinated," says Kanowitz.
more...........
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/on-parenting/2008/10/27/pta-pushes-flu-shots-for-kids.html
The Kanowitzes had called their pediatrician that evening because Amanda was pale and sluggish. The doctor told them that if they kept Amanda hydrated she'd be OK. In almost every case, that would have been true. But children do die of the flu; 83 children died last year, and 92 percent of them had not been vaccinated. Most of them had been healthy, like Amanda.
Doctors don't know why the flu occasionally turns vicious. One theory is that the immune system in healthy people can overreact when faced with a new virus, and that immune system reaction is what proves fatal. It's the theory for why the majority of the people who died in the 1918 flu epidemic were young.
Ever since Amanda died on March 1, 2004, the Kanowitzes have made it their crusade to ensure that every eligible child gets a flu shot. They lobbied the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to recommend flu shots for all children, which the feds did for the first time this year. "Our long-term goal is to convince parents to take flu seriously and get their children vaccinated," says Kanowitz.
more...........
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/on-parenting/2008/10/27/pta-pushes-flu-shots-for-kids.html