Dr. Brian Linde, Pediatric Hospitalist has provided the following insight:
We fear what we don’t know rather than the devil we know. Children under 5 years of age seem to be more susceptible to complications of H1N1 or serious disease, in the USA, about 200 children will die this year from H1N1 in the USA. But, about 1,000 children under age 14 will die from traffic accidents this year, and the number increases when we add in other kinds of accidental deaths.
Why do we fear one and not the other? People are familiar with driving and we have grown calloused to the risk, we think we can control or prevent accidents because we are “in control” and use car-seats, defensive driving, etc.
The bottom line: follow these rules
1) exercise caution – use car seats, drive carefully, be judicious taking babies under 2 months of age into crowds, travel with alcohol based hand sanitizer, don’t expose your baby unnecessarily to anyone who is sick (parents excepted).
2) Keep abreast of up to date recommendations regarding flu and H1N1 at the CDC website. Here is one helpful pamphlet from the CDC:
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/freeresources/2009-10/pdf/parents_guide_flier.pdf
This will allow people to make an informed decision.
****As seen on www.giggle.com
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