Annals of emergency medicine
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Comparative Study
Pandemic H1N1 influenza in the pediatric emergency department: a comparison with previous seasonal influenza outbreaks.
We compare the acuity of pediatric emergency department (ED) patients between the ongoing H1N1 influenza pandemic and previous seasonal influenza outbreaks. ⋯ The severity of illness during the 2009 H1N1 surge appeared similar to that of previous influenza seasons for the total population of the 2 pediatric tertiary care EDs, whereas an increase in the proportion of ICU admissions was observed for patients with influenza-like illness.