If young adults are included, those under 30 form 80% of cases; symptoms also differ in children and grown-ups
By
Salma Khalik, Health Correspondent
Of the 70 children who have been warded at KK Women and Children's Hospital (KKH), only two really needed hospital care. The rest were there to keep them from spreading the disease. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK HONG
CLEARLY, the H1N1 flu bug attacks the young. Half of those affected here were under 20. From this group, 30 per cent are under 10, with the youngest aged 14 months.
However, of the 70 children who have been warded at KK Women and Children's Hospital (KKH), only two really needed hospital care. The rest were there to keep them from spreading the disease.
One had an attack of pneumonia, and is still in hospital. The other patient has asthma, which got worse when combined with H1N1. But six other children with asthma did not have this problem.
Associate Professor Chong Chia Yin, head of infectious diseases at KKH, said that this showed that asthmatics may not fare worse with H1N1.
However, it is early days yet to gauge the impact of the flu on the young.
Seasonal flu usually hits the elderly, but H1N1 appears to be different. One theory advanced is that the elderly might have acquired some immunity from an H1N1 flu strain in the past, rendering them more resistant.
A further breakdown of the data showed that if young adults between the ages of 20 and 29 were included, those under 30 formed close to 80 per cent of the flu cases here.
The proportions and numbers start decreasing as the age brackets move up, with just a handful of those above 50 struck down.
There were differences too in the way the flu manifested itself in the young.
Of the first 50 adults sick here, 76 per cent had temperatures above 37.5 deg C while all the children had temperatures above that. Nine in 10 also had a cough, runny nose and sore throat.
Please read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.
