A week shy of her first birthday, Hazel was admitted to Monash Children’s Hospital due to complications associated with the flu.
Finding her daughter hard to rouse and with a prolonged high temperature, Hazel’s mum had taken her to the emergency department at Monash Medical Centre.
‘She had gone 72-hours with very little intake, and I did not want her getting so floppy that something happened,’ said her mum, Bridget Were, a nurse on Ward 42 at Monash Medical Centre.
As reported by 9News, Hazel was treated for dehydration and potential pneumonia, and tested for encephalitis or inflammation of the brain, which can be life-threatening.
‘The number of children with influenza admitted to Monash Children’s Hospital has doubled in the last month,’ said Dr Cathy McAdam, the Head of Service in General Paediatrics at Monash Children’s Hospital.
Hazel spent 4 nights in the hospital.
She has recovered well and is back playing with her big sister, Ava, who also had the flu and missed 2 weeks of school recuperating.
Flu trends
Rates of influenza B are 7 times higher this year than last year.
‘We do see an increase in influenza B every couple of years. It mainly affects children, so we are seeing more children hospitalized this year,’ said Professor Rhonda Stuart, Director of the South East Public Health Unit and Director of Public Health and Infection Prevention at Monash Health.
Dr McAdam says most children with the flu can be safely managed at home.
‘If you’re worried that your child is getting dehydrated, or you’re just concerned that there could be something else going on, then the GP is the first port of call,’ said Dr McAdam.
‘Children that should come to hospital are those that have a prolonged fever, are having breathing difficulty, are not behaving normally, are difficult to rouse.’
Don’t risk the flu
The South East Public Health Unit is encouraging people to get the flu vaccine.
‘Getting vaccinated is your best protection,’ said Prof Stuart.
‘Unfortunately, we don’t see great rates of vaccination for influenza this season. It is not too late to get the vaccine.’
The flu vaccine is free for:
- people aged six months to less than five years
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged six months and older
- pregnant women
- people aged 65 years and older
- people aged six months and older with medical conditions that put them at increased risk of severe infection and complications.
Find out more about the flu at the Victorian Government’s Better Health website.