Recommended Reading from the University of British Columbia Respiratory Fellows and Critical Care Fellows

摘要

Canada experienced two distinct waves of H1N1 influenza during the 2009 pandemic: from April to August 2009, and from August 2009 to April 2010. Helferty and colleagues compared hospital admissions and severity of illness between the two waves (1). A total of 8,678 hospital admissions, 1,473 (17%) intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and 428 (5%) deaths related to H1N1 influenza were reported across Canada between April 2009 and April 2010. H1N1 infection was diagnosed by positive reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, viral culture, or a fourfold rise in antibodies against the pandemic virus. Patients admitted to hospital in the first wave were older and more had underlying conditions. The second wave had 4.8 times more hospital admissions, 4.0 times more ICU admissions, and 4.6 times more deaths. However, the second wave saw a proportionate decline in ICU admissions and deaths. Pregnant women and Aboriginals were disproportionately affected but had proportionately fewer hospital and ICU admissions and deaths during the second wave.