Symptoms of your child have a dangerous flu

5-year-old Max Gomez, who just started kindergarten, has symptoms of runny nose and fever. My mother guessed that she only had a cold. But three days later, the boy died of H1N1.

The boy Max Gomez died of H1N1 last August, with very simple initial symptoms. Photo: AP.

According to the Associated Press , so far, the number of children dying of H1N1 is still considered rare. But in the United States, at least 76 babies have died because of this virus, many before their deaths are perfectly healthy.

Dr. Kenneth Alexander, head of the Department of Infection at the University of Chicago, said there are the following common signs that your baby's flu (whether seasonal flu or H1N1 flu) has become dangerous, need to see a doctor. right:

- Breathe fast or breathe hard

- Blue skin

- Not thirsty

- Difficulty waking up or talking

- Frustrated to the point that children don't want to be held

- Symptoms improve, but the fever returns and cough becomes worse (when the baby has other infections)

- Fever with rash

Parents should also take their child to the doctor immediately if flu symptoms appear in children at risk of complications such as: children younger than 5 years old, or at high risk of having asthma and other lung diseases, cerebral palsy, dynamic menstruation and other neurological diseases, heart, kidney or liver disease, diabetes.

A recent report by the US Agency for Disease Control found that one-third of all babies who died from H1N1 were babies like Max, ie without a medical history that could be dangerous for them.