The study finds that just a few months after two especially severe flu outbreaks in the U.K. there were sharp peaks in cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a form of childhood leukemia.
This is not proof that flu causes any kind of cancer in children, stresses study leader Michael Murphy, MD, director of Oxford University's Childhood Cancer Research Group. But the findings support theories that flu and other infectious diseases might play a role in the ongoing slow-but-steady increase in ALL.