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FRIDAY, Oct. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Richard Kanowitz's 4-year-old daughter, Amanda, died of the flu on March 1, 2004, barely 72 hours after she first complained of feeling ill.
Amanda came home from preschool on a Friday afternoon with a slight cough and fever, her father recalled. Her symptoms progressed slowly over the weekend and, by Sunday, she was sluggish, still feverish and now vomiting. The pediatrician said there were multiple viruses circulating and advised the parents to just keep her hydrated.
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They did, but on Monday morning, Kanowitz went to wake Amanda, only to find that she had died during the night.
Amanda had not been vaccinated against influenza -- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines at the time only recommended that children aged 6 months to 23 months be inoculated. "She didn't fall within the guidelines, so we didn't vaccinate her," Kanowitz said. "We were unaware how serious influenza is, that it kills healthy children."
Thanks partly to Kanowitz, who went on to found a group known as Families Fighting Flu, CDC recommendations now urge that all children aged 6 months to 19 years be vaccinated.
Pregnant women are also urged to get the flu shot, not only because they are at higher risk for flu-related complications, but because their vaccinations will also benefit their babies. Infants under 6 months have the highest rate of hospitalization from the flu among children. Despite this hard fact, only 20 percent of currently pregnant women recently surveyed said they planned to be vaccinated this season.
Kanowitz and his wife are now religious about vaccinating their two other children, aged 19 months and 6 years. "The best way that we could have had Amanda here today was to get her vaccinated," he said. "It is the single most important thing parents can do to protect themselves and their children."
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