Articles: pandemics.
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Countries across Europe developed a range of database systems to register pandemic influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 cases. Anecdotal reports indicate that some systems were not as useful as expected. This was a cross-sectional, semi-structured survey of health professionals who collected and reported pandemic influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 cases in 23 countries within the 27 European Union (EU) Member States plus Norway. ⋯ We conducted the survey to identify improvements that could be made to future pandemic case registers at national and EU level. Despite many inter-country differences, 17 respondents felt that a standardised case register template incorporating a limited number of simple standard variables specified in advance and agreed between the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control could be useful. Intra- and inter-country working groups could facilitate information exchange, clearer system objectives and improved interoperability between systems.
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Critical care medicine · May 2012
Multicenter StudyCritical illness from 2009 pandemic influenza A virus and bacterial coinfection in the United States.
The contribution of bacterial coinfection to critical illness associated with 2009 influenza A virus infection remains uncertain. The objective of this study was to determine whether bacterial coinfection increased the morbidity and mortality of 2009 influenza A. ⋯ Among intensive care unit patients with 2009 influenza A, bacterial coinfection diagnosed within 72 hrs of admission, especially with Staphylococcus aureus, was associated with significantly higher morbidity and mortality.
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Pneumonia was a common complication among hospitalized patients with 2009 pandemic influenza A H1N1 [pH1N1] in the United States in 2009. ⋯ Hospitalized patients with pH1N1 and pneumonia were at risk for severe outcomes including ARDS, sepsis, and death; antiviral treatment was often delayed. In the absence of accurate pneumonia diagnostics, patients hospitalized with suspected influenza and lung infiltrates on chest radiography should receive early and aggressive treatment with antibiotics and influenza antiviral agents.
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Multicenter Study
Evaluation of triage methods used to select patients with suspected pandemic influenza for hospital admission.
Prepandemic projections anticipated huge excess attendances and mortality in an influenza pandemic. A number of tools had been suggested for triaging patients with influenza for inpatient and critical care admission, but none had been validated in these patients. The authors aimed to evaluate three potential triage tools--CURB-65, PMEWS and the Department of Health community assessment tool (CAT)--in patients in the first waves of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. ⋯ Although limited by a paucity of cases, this research shows that current triage methods for suspected pandemic influenza did not reliably discriminate between patients with good and poor outcomes.