rob wrote:
Dr. Niman,
My nephew contracted a severe case of H1N1, was hospitalized for a couple of weeks with greatly diminished lung function. He was tested positive for the virus.
Last year he suffered a severe neurological disorder, characterized by muscular tics, Tourettes like verbal outbursts, and seizures. After about a year, the symptoms have subsided somewhat.
I am now seeing reports of high school age students suffering very similar symptoms, most notable in Le Roy High School in New York. This cluster was publicized mostly by one of the sufferers on you-tube, and has since been followed by the media. However, I suspect that isolated cases, like my nephew, are not being noticed. The HIPAA act would tend to discourage communications about isolated instances of these symptoms. Particularly because, as in my nephew's case, they are likely to withdraw from public education until the symptoms subside.
Has there been any coordinated follow up of diagnosed teenagers for neurological symptoms? I am beginning to suspect there should be.
Do you think that this is a possible consequence of teenage infection with the virus?
Rob
Rob,
Neurological isues with flu have been around for some time. In fact the first influenza ever isolated, WS/33, in 1933 was passed in mouse brains to produce WSN/33, which was neurotropic (and was also H1N1). Similarly, the Qinghai stain of H5N1 was neurotropic, as were other H5N1 isolates.
Although I remain suspect of the cluster in New York, potential neurological complications of influenza infections, especially for a novel virus like H1N!pdm09, are a very real possibility.
The efforts to create WSN/33 were associated with reports of schizophrenia in survivors of the 1918 pandemic, caused by an H1N1 which had many similarities to H1N1pdm09.
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