Dangers of common flu for young children and elderly

Pediatrician Lawrence Ross, MD, explains what ages that the flu can be deadly amongst and what parents can do to help decrease their child's risks
The Dangers Of The Common Flu For Young Children - Kids Health Tips
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Dangers of common flu for young children and elderly

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Flu is dangerous for children and adults of all ages, particularly for children under the age of two or three. The complications are very similar to what occur in very elderly people, and the rates of hospitalization, the rates of getting pneumonia or inflammation of the brain are very high, and so for this reason we are trying to control flu in everyone at all ages and, in particular, children. One of the other reasons that we think it's very dangerous is that particularly school-aged children are a tremendous source for others catching the flu. They bring it home from school, they give it to their little siblings, their parents, their grandparents, their other members of their family. We have epidemics and all kinds of complications so the idea that flu is a benign or simple disease that you recover from is not always true, and anyone that's ever had the real flu knows just how sick you can be.

Pediatrician Lawrence Ross, MD, explains what ages that the flu can be deadly amongst and what parents can do to help decrease their child's risks

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Lawrence Ross, MD

Pediatrician, Infectious Disease, Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Dr. Lawrence A. Ross is a pediatrician and expert in infectious diseases.  He has been a full-time member of the Division of Infectious Disease at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles since 1978 and has served as Hospital Infection Control Officer as well as the Chairperson of the Infection Control Committee for 20 years.  He is also a Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.  Dr. Ross graduated from the University of Illinois and subsequently attended medical school at the Chicago Medical School in Chicago. He completed residency training in Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, followed by fellowships in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County/University of Southern California School of Medicine. From 1981-1985, Dr. Ross served as the coordinator of the intern and residency program at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. His areas of interest have included epidemiology of nosocomial infections as well as clinical aspects of care for patients with immune compromising diseases including patients with HIV infection. 

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Transcription: 
Flu is dangerous for children and adults of all ages, particularly for children under the age of two or three. The complications are very similar to what occur in very elderly people, and the rates of hospitalization, the rates of getting pneumonia or inflammation of the brain are very high, and so for this reason we are trying to control flu in everyone at all ages and, in particular, children. One of the other reasons that we think it's very dangerous is that particularly school-aged children are a tremendous source for others catching the flu. They bring it home from school, they give it to their little siblings, their parents, their grandparents, their other members of their family. We have epidemics and all kinds of complications so the idea that flu is a benign or simple disease that you recover from is not always true, and anyone that's ever had the real flu knows just how sick you can be.