Like so many other specialists throughout the country, we are seeing a greater number of pediatric flu cases this flu season. This year has been so much more intense than we’ve seen in the past five to 10 years, not just in the number of patients, but how sick the patients are who come in for the flu.
The most common reason for a child with the flu to be admitted to Pediatric Critical Care of South Florida is dehydration and high-grade fever.
Dr. Allan Greissman shared his experience on the front lines of this flu season exclusively with Fatherly.
The year’s flu is, per the CDC, on track to be one of the deadliest in nearly a decade. In California alone, 100 people have died and only three of them were over the age of 64. All told, 37 children have died. Nationally, the CDC expects to see 2.2 percent of outpatient visits in this season to be flu-related. During the week of January 14th to January 20th, the actual percentage of flu-related doctor visits was three times that rate at 6.6 percent. Thirty-nine states reported high “influenza-like-illness” activity and the spread in 49 states and Puerto Rico has been reported as “widespread.”
Dr. Allan Greissman, a pediatric critical care specialist at Pediatric Critical Care of South Florida at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, has compared this year’s outbreak to only one, infamous predecessor: the swine flu. Greissman works exclusively on the most severe cases of pediatric illnesses and surgeries, and every year expects to see an uptick in patients who visit due to dehydration or high-grade fever from the flu. But this season is far more severe than even he ever imagined.
Dr. Greissman talked to us about the worst cases he’s seen, why the flu needs to be taken more seriously, and why it’s still not too late to get your flu shot.
To read the full story, visit Fatherly.