Children can "shed" H1N1 flu virus 6-8 days after fever, CDC says
More to be aware of regarding the swine flu (H1N1): Young children can apparently "shed" the virus far longer than older kids and adults, which may affect how long they should stay out of school.
But "shedding" is not the same as being contagious, experts said.
The finding comes from an analysis of a May and June outbreak in a Pennsylvania elementary school, according to Achuyt Bhattarai, MD, of the CDC. It was presented to the annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
Here is an explanation, from MedPage Today:
"Earlier this year, researchers reported that adults infected with the H1N1 pandemic flu strain continue to shed virus after the point where current recommendations say they can go back to work or school.
"But those researchers said -- and Bhattarai concurred here -- that it would be a leap to assume that shedding virus means a person remains contagious. Among other things, modern tests are so sensitive they can detect virus in amounts so small that contagion is all but impossible, the experts said.
"The CDC currently recommends that people with flu-like symptoms stay home until at least 24 hours after they are free of fever without using fever-reducing medicines."
Bhattarai tested in two different ways to track the "shedding."
"Overall, [Bhattarai] said, the median time from onset of fever to the end of shedding was six days using RT-PCR. Viable virus was detected using culture for a median of five days after the start of fever, he said.
"But for children younger than 5, the median was eight days by PCR and five by culture, compared with six days for both methods for kids ages 5 through 9 and five for both methods in kids ages 10 through 18.
"The four adults in the analysis stopped shedding a median of four days after the start of fever on both PCR and culture, Bhattarai said."
The findings will help experts determine when children should go back to school.
Here's another version of the story:
http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/news/20091029/kids-shed-h1n1-virus-6-d...
Add A New Comment Report Abuse
Add A New Comment2 Comments
Hi Diane - Great info on an important topic for many parents. Thanks! Pat
Thanks for this Diane - from my experience, some parents are either sending their children to school ill, or returning them to school before they are ready or non-contageous. As a part of a working family myself (and aren't we all working parents?!) I understand that it's difficult to have sick children at home and work schedules as well as other obligations complicate things. But part of parenting is having a backup plan in place should their children be ill. Sending kids to school with obvious fevers and H1N1 symptoms is completely irresponsible to both their own kids and those children and teachers in school. Care needs to be taken that all children have recovered sufficiently so that they are not a danger to others or may risk their own recoveries by going back too soon. My son had a classmate sent to school obviously very ill with flu and was vomiting in class within minutes of school starting, and this domino effect is really hurting other people and is cruel to the sick children involved. Parenting and working is no easy task but we cannot risk the health of children - our own and others - by knowingly sending them to school with the flu. Perhaps the community, parents and schools need to get together to find a way for parents to work (especially single parents or those who do not get paid if they don't work/have no sick time or any kind of vacation benefits) as their kids recoup in a safe and comfortable way.