Report Finds Major Gaps Exist in U.S. Pediatric Pandemic…

          Report Finds Major Gaps Exist in U.S. Pediatric Pandemic Preparations

Media contacts: Kim Elliott (202) 223-2901 or kelliott@tfah.org
                Priscilla Ring (202) 724-3304 or pring@aap.org

WASHINGTON, October 17, 2007 ­ The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and Trust
for America's Health (TFAH) issued a new report today, Pandemic Influenza: Warning,
Children At-Risk, which finds that children and teens between the ages of 0-19 account for nearly
46 percent of all H5N1 "bird" flu deaths. The report also identifies gaps in U.S. preparedness for
treating and caring for children during a possible pandemic flu outbreak.

Four key areas of concern raised in the report include: child-appropriate doses of vaccine and
medications; management and treatment of children who become ill; including children in
strategies to slow the spread of influenza in communities; and caring for and supervising the
health of children if schools and childcare facilities are closed for extended periods of time.

"Children are not simply small adults, especially when it comes to medical concerns. The fact
that H5N1 has been disproportionately impacting children and adolescents should give us
pause," said Jeff Levi, PhD, Executive Director of TFAH. "As the U.S. prepares for the threat of
a possible pandemic flu, we must make caring for our kids a priority, not an afterthought."

Some key gaps identified in the report include:

   ·   There are currently only 100,000 courses of antivirals for children in the Strategic
       National Stockpile. There are currently 73.6 million children in the U.S. A severe
       pandemic outbreak could result in 25 percent of the U.S. population becoming ill.
       Children are known to often be disproportionately impacted by contagious respiratory
       illnesses.
   ·   Neither of the two antiviral drugs that have been shown effective against H5N1 are
       licensed for children younger than 1 year of age.
   ·   A vaccine that is well-matched for a pandemic would not be available for at least 6
       months after a major outbreak begins, and tests would have to be conducted to determine
       safety levels for children and adults once it is available.
   ·   The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that the public
       consider using of N95 respirator masks in certain circumstances during a pandemic
       outbreak, however, N95 respirator masks are not currently produced in children's sizes.
   ·   Approximately 30 million children rely on the National School Lunch Program for meals
       each day and many rely school nurses for health care, and there are no plans in place to
       provide these services if schools are closed.

"Children tend to be major vectors. They are inherently more at-risk for contagious respiratory
diseases because they have limited pre-existing immunity, often spend lots of time in groups, and
tend to share germs easily," said AAP Committee on Infectious Disease (COID) Member John S.
Bradley, MD, FAAP, of Children's Hospital San Diego. "Right now, we are behind the curve in
finding ways to limit the spread of a pandemic in children even though they are among those
most at-risk."
Experts predict a severe pandemic flu outbreak could result in up to 1.9 million deaths in the
U.S., approximately 9.9 million Americans needing to be hospitalized, and an economic
recession with losses over $680 billion to the U.S. Gross Domestic Product.

"What will happen when children miss school? How long can parents stay home to care for their
children? These are the million dollar questions parents and policy-makers should think about
now while we have time to prepare," said Henry H. Bernstein, DO, FAAP, AAP COID Member
and Chief, General Pediatrics, Children's Hospital at Dartmouth.

The AAP and TFAH recommend specific actions to ensure the health and welfare of the nation's
children are protected in the event of a flu pandemic:

   ·   Pediatricians and pediatric medical and surgical subspecialists should be included in
       pandemic planning at all levels of government.
   ·   The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) should conduct additional
       studies on vaccine efficacy in young children, support the development of additional flu
       vaccine products, and conduct more studies of antiviral agents for infants.
   ·   HHS should immediately convene an independent task force to study and make specific
       recommendations about the use of surgical masks, N95 respirators, and other personal
       protective equipment by children.
   ·   HHS should conduct further studies on the feasibility of prolonged school and childcare
       center closures, including a more precise assessment of the long-term interruption of the
       school meals program and how to mitigate the impact on students who rely on them.
   ·   The Federal government should ensure that the Strategic National Stockpile includes
       sufficient pediatric doses of antiviral medications to ensure treatment of 25 percent of the
       nation's children and adolescents, or about 18.4 million individuals.
   ·   All schools should educate students in infection control. Children should receive grade-
       appropriate health education about communicable diseases and methods to interrupt
       disease spread (cover cough, wash hands, etc).
   ·   Educators and school administrators should be encouraged to get an annual influenza
       vaccination and should remind families that public health experts recommend annual flu
       vaccines for 1) all children with high risk conditions who are 6 months of age and older,
       2) all healthy children ages 6 months through 59 months, 3) all household contacts and
       out-of-home caregivers of children with high risk conditions and of children younger than
       5 years if age, and 4) all health care professionals. CDC and state and local health
       departments should encourage and support seasonal flu vaccination clinics in school
       settings to maximize flu vaccine coverage rates.

The full report is available on the TFAH website, www.healthyamericans.org, or on the AAP
website at www.aap.org.

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The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 60,000 primary care pediatricians,
pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety
and well being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.
Trust for America's Health is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to saving lives
by protecting the health of every community and working to make disease prevention a national
priority.