Wednesday, September 2, 2009

WHO Warns Of Severe Form Of Swine Flu (H1N1)




The following is from the New York Times. Here is the first part -

"Doctors are reporting a severe form of swine flu that goes straight to the lungs, causing severe illness in otherwise healthy young people and requiring expensive hospital treatment, the World Health Organization said Friday.

Some countries are reporting that as many as 15 percent of patients hospitalized with the new H1N1 pandemic virus need intensive care, further straining already overburdened healthcare systems, WHO said in an update on the pandemic.

"During the winter season in the southern hemisphere, several countries have viewed the need for intensive care as the greatest burden on health services," it said.

"Preparedness measures need to anticipate this increased demand on intensive care units, which could be overwhelmed by a sudden surge in the number of severe cases."

Earlier, WHO reported that H1N1 had reached epidemic levels in Japan, signalling an early start to what may be a long influenza season this year, and that it was also worsening in tropical regions.

"Perhaps most significantly, clinicians from around the world are reporting a very severe form of disease, also in young and otherwise healthy people, which is rarely seen during seasonal influenza infections," WHO said.

"In these patients, the virus directly infects the lung, causing severe respiratory failure. Saving these lives depends on highly specialized and demanding care in intensive care units, usually with long and costly stays."

MINORITIES AT RISK

Minority groups and indigenous populations may also have a higher risk of being severely ill with H1N1.

"In some studies, the risk in these groups is four to five times higher than in the general population," WHO said.

"Although the reasons are not fully understood, possible explanations include lower standards of living and poor overall health status, including a high prevalence of conditions such as asthma, diabetes and hypertension.""

Click here to read the rest of this article.

WHO article "Preparing for the second wave: lessons from current outbreaks"

photo credit

10 comments:

Awake In Rochester said...

Hi Lady Banana,

LOL! Cute!

I'm afraid we are in for a bit of a rough ride. Better hang on to me. ;)

Anonymous said...

Um yeah. My husband teaches in Pittsford and they already have a Swine Flu Emergency Plan ready to go into effect because they are expecting it to take over this fall and so many students to be out that their plan will be to close schools for a week....

Mike Golch said...

if it's not one thing it another.

meleah rebeccah said...

Hopefully the vaccine will be available by October like they are saying in the news!

Awake In Rochester said...

Hi meleah rebeccah,

Well that gave us some B.S. about the before. They knew that it takes about 6 months to get the vaccine out, and that they wouldn't have a lot right away. They make vaccine the same way so the time table is the same. Therefore, they lied to us. I hope that they get it out soon.

dmarks said...

I've already had friend with it.

Anonymous said...

My concern would be that they would rush the vaccine through and it wouldn't be safe. Anyone remember the 1970s? (1976, I believe.)

Awake In Rochester said...

Hi dmarks,

Ek! How is your frind doing? I hope it didn't hit him hard.

Awake In Rochester said...

Hi Anonymous,

I think they are aware of that. I know at the University of Rochester they have been testing the vaccine for awhile now. They are now testing it on babies. I think that the vaccine will be safer then in 1976, but they do have to rush it out soon. It is hitting our schools very hard. One student died at Cornel University already. I’m worried about the elderly. They say that they might have some immunity, but they are also weaker elderly in nursing homes. It wouldn't take much for some of them to die. I think it is a mistake for the government to have taken them off the list. I suppose they only have so many doses to give out, but still...

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