University of Utah researchers say seizures more common in children who had H1N1 than seasonal flu

SALT LAKE CITY — University of Utah researchers found more seizures and encephalopathy in children who had H1N1 influenza during the 2009 pandemic than in those with regular seasonal flu.

And that makes it even more important that children receive a flu shot, which includes the H1N1 virus in the strains it targets to prevent.

The findings are published in the September "Annals of Neurology," a journal of the American Neurological Association.

The study was retrospective, said Dr. Josh Bonkowsky, an assistant professor of both pediatrics and neurology at the U.

As Bonkowsky and his colleagues treated children who were hospitalized for flu, it seemed that those diagnosed with H1N1, the so-called "swine" flu, were more prone to seizures, language impairment and encephalopathy, a catch-all phrase for brain dysfunction that ranges from confused clear to comatose.

So they went back over the records of children hospitalized with H1N1 and neurological complications from April through November 2009 and compared them with children hospitalized with seasonal flu and neurological complications between July 1, 2004, and June 30, 2008. They needed the larger time period to create a comparable sized sample.

They found that more children hospitalized with H1N1 had neurological deficits and needed anti-seizure medication, including after discharge.

Bonkowsky noted several take-home messages: Being vaccinated matters; and while complications are rare, they happen and can be quite severe, so it would be nice if better therapies were developed to help those with such a complication.

"That's something that needs to be focused on at the national level," he said.

And while the H1N1 pandemic of 2009 affected millions, it could have been much bigger.

"We want to be on our toes in case a more severe, bigger pandemic comes along," Bonkowsky said.

e-mail: lois@desnews.com