Symptoms:
A fever and vomiting suddenly occur. A rapid change in mental status to a deep depression, nausea, amnesia; and then pneumonia, coma, convulsions, fixed and dilated pupils, and death.

There can be confusion, drowsiness, memory lapses, lethargy, irritability or unusual belligerence.

There may be weakness or paralysis in the limbs, speech impairment, hearing loss, double vision, etc.


Cause:
Reye's Syndrome is a disaster worth avoiding. This disease affects many internal organs, especially the brain and liver.

It primarily strikes children between the ages of 4 and 15 (but most frequently young teens), in the fall or winter.

Not long ago, the death rate stood at 42%-80%, but more recently it has dropped to below 10%.

Most cases occur after a viral infection, such as the flu or chickenpox. Influenza B, Epstein-Barr virus, and viruses which primarily affect the gastrointestinal tract (enteroviruses) can also occur prior to its onset.

It is known that giving aspirin to a child or youth who has a fever can lead to Reye's disease and the likely possibility of death. In the early 1980s, it was discovered that a viral infection, plus the taking of aspirin, dramatically increases the risk of developing Reye's syndrome.

The cause of the disease may be consumption of aflatoxin, which is an exotoxin of the grain mold, aspergillus flavus.

A biopsy generally shows liver necrosis (the liver is dying). Yet, if the person survives, there is a full recovery of the liver within 12 weeks.

If you see the above symptoms, just after your child has come out of a viral illness—do something quickly! Here are the key symptoms again:

(1) Agitation, disorientation, and delirium.

(2) Fatigue, lethargy, and lapses in memory.

(3) Prolonged and heavy vomiting, followed by drowsiness.

Call a physician! Phone 911, and send the child to a hospital!

Treatment:
• It would be well for the child to be given vitamin C (5-10 gms per day), intravenously; vitamins B-complex and B12, and selenium (250-500 mcg per day) intramuscularly.

• If, in the hospital, the child receives an IV solution of glucose and electrolytes (mineral salts) within 12-24 hours after the heavy vomiting begins, his chances of recovery are very good.

• Never give a child or youth aspirin after a fever. The pattern of events is this: The child has a fever, and aspirin is given. There is improvement for a day or two,—then a sudden turn for the worst occurs, and coma or death follows. A Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study revealed that 96% of the children contracting Reye's syndrome had been given aspirin while they had a viral infection. It was also found that there was a direct correlation between the amount of aspirin given and the severity of the illness.

• In this emergency, if you have to give him a pain reliever, give him acetaminophen (Tylenol, Datril, and others) or ibuprofen (Advil, Nuprin, and others) instead.

• Children's aspirins are banned in Britain because of this problem.

• The drug, Tigan, used in suppository form, to control vomiting and nausea, may also be a cause of Reye's.