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Girl, 10, struck by 'economy class syndrome'
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IN what is believed to be the first case in the world involving a child, a 10-year-old Hong Kong girl has been struck down by so-called “economy-class syndrome".
The Eurasian girl --- who is now on the way to recovery --- developed a potentially fatal blood clot during a 13-hour flight from the United Kingdom to Hong Kong in February. It is not known with which airline she was flying.
Experts say they are not aware of any previous reports of the syndrome --- a deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) in which blood clots form in veins during flights --- in a child.
“We're going to write it up and report it in medical journals," said the girl's paediatrician, Stephen Hui Honlam.
The previously healthy girl had slept throughout the flight on one side in an economy-class seat without shifting, he said, adding that inactivity was thought to be linked to the syndrome.
The girl's blood make-up may have been a secondary factor in the case, he said. She has an unusually low level of protein C, which regulates blood-clot formation, but it is unclear if this was a cause or result of the clot.
Dr Hui said the girl was first taken to see him a fortnight after the flight when her leg had swollen to double its normal size.
The president of the Australasian Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, Ross Baker, said similar clots occasionally happened in children with serious illnesses such as cancer.
However, he was not aware of any other case in which a child had developed such a blood clot after a flight. “Its very interesting but very rare," he said.
Asked why children were less likely than adults to be affected, he said: “They are so active. They don't sit still for long."(SD-Agencies)
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