Influenza causes a great disease burden on children especially in the outpatient setting. The signs and symptoms of influenza in unselected children treated as outpatients have not been previously published.
We assessed the clinical presentation of influenza in a prospective study of respiratory infections in preenrolled cohorts of children or =39.0 degrees C. Among children or =40.0 degrees C. Seventy-seven percent of the children had cough and 78% had rhinitis. In children 7 to 13 years of age, only 39% had headache and 13% had myalgia.
High fever is a prominent sign of influenza in children, and the clinical presentation of influenza is most severe in children