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People 50-65 with chronic health conditions at highest risk of death from swine flu -- not young children -- says WHO expert
National Public Radio
The highest risk of death from H1N1, the swine flu, is in older people, age 50 to 65, with chronic health conditions, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) specialist in monitoring the flu.
Many people with chronic lung or liver disease related to Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (Alpha-1) are in the group of those at highest risk.
Anthony Mounts, MD, Team Lead, Pandemic Monitoring and Surveillance, for WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, was interviewed on the National Public Radio show Weekend Edition Sunday.
“People that die of this virus are much more likely to have underlying medical conditions, like diabetes, chronic lung disease, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, asthma… children that are particularly vulnerable are those with respiratory problems like asthma, but also children with cerebral palsy or severe neurological problems.”
But children are not the group at highest risk of death, he said.
“We know from looking at a variety of countries’ data that children under the age of five are really at highest risk for requiring hospitalization for having severe disease. But they’re not at highest risk of death. It’s actually the age group between 50 and 59 or 50 to 65” (with chronic health conditions) who are at highest risk of death from H1N1, said Mounts.
Young children have been given top priority for H1N1 vaccination partly in the hope of keeping the virus from spreading, Mounts said.
The H1N1 flu virus is now the dominant influenza virus around the globe, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The agency has declared the swine flu outbreak a pandemic, with nearly 500,000 confirmed cases and over 6,000 deaths reported worldwide.
