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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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 H1N1 OUTBREAK 
22

Swine Flu Turns Critical With Deadly Speed, Taxing ICUs

Sickest H1N1 patients deteriorate rapidly, studies say

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(Newser) – Swine flu can turn from mild to critical extremely rapidly, with the sickest patients needing to be moved to intensive care only a day or so after being admitted to the hospital, new studies show. The worst cases have the potential to overwhelm health care facilities in the event of a widespread outbreak. "These people were not just a little bit ill," the leader of one study conducted this year says."They were spectacularly ill."

A Canadian study focused on 168 H1N1 patients who required hospitalization. Most were moved to an ICU less than 48 hours after admission, and 80% of them eventually needed ventilators. Within a month of admission, 14.3% had died. As noted by other swine flu researchers, many of these extreme cases occurred in relatively healthy, young adults, not the very old or very young usually most affected by seasonal flu, HealthDay reports.

A group of health care workers receive a dose of the swine flu vaccine in the Occupational Health Clinic at Wishard Memorial Hospital in Indianapolis, Monday, Oct. 5, 2009.
A group of health care workers receive a dose of the swine flu vaccine in the Occupational Health Clinic at Wishard Memorial Hospital in Indianapolis, Monday, Oct. 5, 2009.   (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
A lab assistant works at a new bio analytical rapid test system in Jena, central Germany, on Friday, Oct. 9, 2009.
A lab assistant works at a new bio analytical rapid test system in Jena, central Germany, on Friday, Oct. 9, 2009.   (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)
Nurse Betsy Vance holds a nasal mist dose of the swine flu vaccine in the Occupational Health Clinic at Wishard Memorial Hospital in Indianapolis, Monday, Oct. 5, 2009.
Nurse Betsy Vance holds a nasal mist dose of the swine flu vaccine in the Occupational Health Clinic at Wishard Memorial Hospital in Indianapolis, Monday, Oct. 5, 2009.   (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
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These people were not just a little bit ill. They were spectacularly ill. Without preparation, there would be some chance that some areas would be overwhelmed. - Dr. Anand Kumar, lead author of the Canadian H1N1 study

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22 comments
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MrBisme
Oct 12, 09 4:49 PM CDT
This report seems alarmist. I wonder if it's really going to be this bad or if it's just an attempt to scare people into getting vaccinated. In either case, I will be seeking this vaccine when it's available in my area. Reply
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+2
IN RESPONSE:
dontlikeyou
Oct 12, 09 7:14 PM CDT
What a load of bullshit. Australia went through their flu season with Swine flu in full force and reported nothing like this. I guess the government is trying to turn things around since 1/3 or Americans have stated they will not take the vaccine.... gotta make money for the pharma industry.
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+1
IN RESPONSE:
dontlikeyou
Oct 12, 09 7:16 PM CDT
Shingles.... look up the disease. It used to be a condition that would flare up in a person 60 and over who had previously contracted chicken pox in their youth. In the 90's, a chicken pox vaccine was developed... now, kids as young as 18 and 19 are getting shingles. Why? The vaccine of course. It is a side affect that is showing up 15 years after the vaccine was introduced. No one predicted it. Take vaccines at your own risk. The government does not know all and when it does know, it does not tell all.
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-3
IN RESPONSE:
Deebles
Oct 12, 09 8:11 PM CDT
Gee, don'tlike. You would have been very upset about the mandatory vaccine for Swine Flu in 1975 when Ford required it. Got mine at college like everyone else because back them people were a tad better educated. You are being fed a line of bull about vaccines. The problem with this strain of Swine Flu is that it flourishes in the face of strong immune systems. The opposite of regular old flu. We may have some health problems, but by and large, we got some immunity going ,so it is dangerous here. I'm less than 60 and never had a chicken pox vaccine--had the disease and I've had shingles twice--wicked. I got the vaccine for shingles. You compare apples and oranges and your lack of a biological understanding of viruses does neither you nor anyone else any good. It is odd to me in a country where no child gets polio, diptheria or whooping cough and dies like they used to do in the thousands how educated adults can not understand the basics of vaccine. Yet, you have no problem with the medicine Tamiflu invented to treat the flu which is owned by Donald Rumsfeld and a few other influential people who benefit from encouraging your fear.
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0
IN RESPONSE:
thejanet
Oct 13, 09 2:44 PM CDT
It already IS this bad in my part of Texas (Dallas area), go read on the CDC website http://www.cdc.gov or, get this, their new website http://www.flu.gov . I guess the second is for our lowest common denominator, or people like me with no short-term memory. It's widespread and it is BAD. I don't know if it is as wicked as shingles (that I've had THREE times, despite the fact you're supposed to get immunity after the first time), and no, I didn't get the chicken pox vaccine. But I will be taking the H1N1 vaccine next week. This sounds like a flu I'd rather not be a part of.
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-1

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