More Students With Swine Flu as Deaths Rise Nationally

By Adrienne Alvarez - Weekend Anchor/ Reporter
Friday, October 9, 2009 - 6:07pm

EL PASO--- One school district is reporting five confirmed cases of swine flu in their schools.

A spokeswoman with the Canutillo School District says the five students have already recovered and returned to school after being home sick earlier this week.

None of the children had serious complications with the virus.

They're lucky, because new information tonight suggests the swine flu is killing more children than the seasonal flu normally does.

Close to 80 kids in the U.S. have died from the H1N1 strain so far this season.

Anna Sanchez brought her daughter Zenia to the Texas Tech Medical Center with that one fear in mind.

"Well, because of the flu that's coming out... She's with symptoms," she said.

Dr. Gilbert Handal, who specializes in treating critical infections in children, says Anna has every right to be worried despite most reports.

"It's a pandemic, it's a new virus, so there's really no immunity to it. There's no defense system," said Handal.

But like little Zenia, who only seemed to have a cold, Dr. Handal says not every child with symptoms needs to be brought in to see him.

"If the child is eating well, and drinking water well, the fever comes down with the tylenol...and the child feels good in between, you find that there's nothing or a reason to panic," he said.

But there are definite signs and symptoms to know when the swine flu is serious, and potentially deadly.

"If he has severe diarrhea, if he stops drinking, stops taking fluids, that's bad news," said Handal.

Also, if your child has severe headache, is dizzy, has trouble breathing, or the fever is not dropping, it's time to let a doctor examine your sick one.

But for Anna, she'd prefer to have her children see a doctor from the get-go, one who knows exactly what to look for and can keep her children safe.

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