HEALTH TIPS: Flu and asthma

Health Tip – Audio Version – “Flu and asthma”
Health Tip – Healthy Next Step – Take Charge of Your Health! A Guide For Teenagers! (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

A study indicates that the chance that a young child with the flu needs medical care goes up if the child also has asthma.

Kathryn Miller of Vanderbilt University Medical Center bases that on 330 laboratory-confirmed cases of flu out of 2,800 children ages 6 months to 59 months. Her study in the journal Pediatrics was supported by HHS agencies.

Miller found that kids with asthma were more likely than kids without asthma to have had outpatient care or been hospitalized for influenza. She also found that parents reported less than 30 percent of kids with asthma were vaccinated.

“Influenza causes many hospitalizations and doctors’ visits each year among kids with asthma. The best way to reduce your risk and your child’s risk of flu each year is to receive the flu vaccine.’’

Health Tip courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last revised: January, 11 2008