Children with severe pneumonia should be tested for staphylococcus, doctors say. More children who die from the flu have staphylococcus aureus infections that hasten their deaths, according to an alert from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC is requesting that states report all cases of flu-related pediatric deaths from the past winter.
“We always knew that staph on top of flu was a really dangerous thing,” said Dr. Timothy Doran, chairman of pediatrics at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. More seriously ill children should be tested for staph, he said, and if positive, “I would probably treat with a more specific anti-staph drug.”
Often, particularly with drug-resistant staphylococcus strains, once the first line of antibiotics fails, it is too late for the child, he said. Flu and staph co-infections are suspected of contributing to the high fatality rate of the 1918 flu epidemic.
From Oct. 1, 2006, to May 7, 55 deaths from influenza in children were reported to the CDC from 23 state and two city health departments. Bacterial co-infections were detected in 20 of those cases, and staph was specifically cited in 16 children. Drug-resistant strains accounted for 11 of those cases.
While the CDC reports that the number of flu-related deaths has held steady for three years, co-infections increased from three the year before and one in 2004-2005.
While the flu spreads from person to person, mainly by coughing, sneezing and poor hand washing, staphylococcus bacteria is on the skin and in the noses of up to 40 percent of the population, Doran said. People with weakened immune systems are more susceptible to the bacteria. “The biggest thing is hand washing,” he said.
The CDC is collecting cultures from hospitals that report these cases, said Dr. Julia McMillan, infectious disease specialist with Johns Hopkins Children?s Center. “The question is whether this year, right now, there?s a more aggressive strain of staph out there,” she said.
