Flu season poses more serious threat for families with chronically ill children

LOUISVILLE, Ky (WDRB) -- As flu season approaches, families with children who have chronic illnesses are taking extra precautions to stay safe.

Jack Powers and his mother, Lynn, spoke to WDRB via Zoom Thursday to avoid unnecessary exposure to the flu and other circulating viruses. Jack, a student, already faces plenty of risk at school.

Jack was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes nearly a year and a half ago, a condition that significantly impacts his immune system.

"Last February and last March, I got sick like three times within the span of those two months," Jack recalled. "I was pretty sick, too, and very susceptible then."

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that attacks the body's ability to produce insulin. Without insulin, the body cannot properly regulate blood sugar levels, leading to severe complications.

"Especially with Type 1, where the autoimmune system has essentially attacked the cells that produce insulin, a lack of insulin can lead to high blood sugars," Mikyla Peres, with the Wendy Novak Diabetes Institute at Norton Children’s Hospital, said about the risks. "Sugar is the energy the body uses to power everything we do all day."

For Jack, and millions of other children with Type 1 diabetes, the flu can quickly escalate into a life-threatening condition called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). DKA occurs when the body doesn’t receive enough insulin, causing a dangerous buildup of ketones in the bloodstream.

"If caught early, DKA can be treated," Peres emphasized. "Which is why we recommend going to an emergency department right away."

However, if left untreated for just a few days DKA can lead to coma or worse. Jack's mother, Lynn Powers, likened the early warning signs to predicting a hurricane.

"Before he might have real clear symptoms of a cold or virus, his blood sugar would spike really high," she explained. "We wouldn’t know why. It wouldn’t correlate with anything he was eating or dehydration. That high blood sugar was almost like an early indicator that his immune system was trying to fight off a virus."

As flu season ramps up, the general public is reminded to follow basic health and hygiene practices. But for families like the Powers, it’s more than just a precaution—it’s a matter of life or an extended hospital stay.

"What we’ve learned about chronic illness is not to take health for granted," Lynn said.

More than a dozen school districts in Kentucky and southern Indiana are on pause or using non-traditional learning days because so many students and staff are sick. Health officials have reported sharp increases in flu, COVID-19 and norovirus cases.

Doctors encourage people to frequently wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds to prevent the spread of germs. People who are sick with symptoms like fever, cough, sore throat, fatigue, body aches or difficulty breathing should stay home until they're symptom-free for at least 24 hours without medication. People should also cover coughs and sneezes.

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