Do Kids' Seizures Signal Swine Flu?

Doctors say kids with flu symptoms and signs of seizures may have the swine flu.

ByABC News
July 24, 2009, 9:43 AM

July 24, 2009— -- LITTLE FALLS, N.J. -- Clinicians encountering children with flu-like symptoms accompanied by neurologic symptoms should consider infection with the pandemic H1N1 (swine flu) virus, researchers said.

This study described four cases in which children with confirmed infection with the pandemic H1N1 virus had neurological complications without a known etiology.

Since April, the Dallas County health department has detected four cases of neurological complications in children with confirmed H1N1 infection, Dr. Jane Siegel, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, and colleagues reported in the July 24 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

When encountering children with flu-like symptoms and unexplained seizures or mental status changes, clinicians should begin antiviral treatment immediately -- especially in hospitalized patients -- and send specimens for viral testing, the researchers said.

Neurological complications, including seizures, encephalitis, encephalopathy, and Reye syndrome, had previously been associated with seasonal influenza viruses but had not yet been described in connection to the new pandemic strain.

The cases -- all boys -- were identified among 405 confirmed cases of infection and 44 hospitalizations in the Dallas area. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control was alerted on May 28.

All four boys, whose ages ranged from 7 to 17, recovered fully during hospitalization and were sent home without any remaining neurological symptoms.

All four had fever, three had encephalopathy, and two had seizures.

The onset of the neurological symptoms after the development of respiratory disease ranged from one to four days.

All received a five-day course of oseltamivir (Tamiflu); three also received rimantadine, which has proven to be ineffective against the pandemic H1N1 virus.

The researchers described the details of each patient's experience: