Articles: pandemics.
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · May 2011
Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza in hospitalized children in Manitoba: nosocomial transmission and lessons learned from the first wave.
To review the experiences at Winnipeg Children's Hospital (WCH) during the 2009 influenza season, with an emphasis on nosocomial transmission and infection prevention and control responses. ⋯ Infection with pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza virus resulted in a substantial number of hospitalizations of pediatric patients in Manitoba, including those with nosocomial cases, thereby stressing the capacity of WCH. Immediate therapy with oseltamivir on admission to the hospital resulted in a significantly reduced length of hospitalization. This, coupled with intensified infection prevention and control practices, halted nosocomial transmission. These strategies should be considered in future pandemic influenza or other respiratory viral outbreaks.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · May 2011
Corticosteroid treatment in critically ill patients with pandemic influenza A/H1N1 2009 infection: analytic strategy using propensity scores.
Administration of adjuvant corticosteroids to patients with pandemic influenza A/H1N1 2009 (pH1N1) may reduce inflammation and improve outcomes. ⋯ Adjuvant corticosteroids were significantly associated with higher mortality in critically ill patients with pH1N1 infection.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · May 2011
Multicenter StudyThe critical care costs of the influenza A/H1N1 2009 pandemic in Australia and New Zealand.
The aim of this study was to determine the critical care and associated hospital costs for 2009 influenza A/H1N1 patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU) in Australia and New Zealand during the southern hemisphere winter All 762 patients admitted to ICUs in Australian and New Zealand between 1 June and 31 August 2009 with confirmed 2009 H1N1 influenza A were included. Costs were assigned based on ICU and hospital length-of-stay, using data from a single Australian ICU which estimated the daily cost of an ICU bed, along with published costs for a ward bed. ⋯ A multivariate analysis found death was significantly associated with a reduction in the log of total costs, while the use of mechanical ventilation and ICU admission with viral pneumonitis/acute respiratory distress syndrome or secondary bacterial pneumonia were significantly associated with an increase in the log of total costs. The cost of 2009 H1N1 patients in ICU was significantly higher than the previously published costs for an average ICU admission, and the total cost of treating 2009 H1N1 patients in ICU admitted during winter 2009 was more than $65,000,000.
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During the first pandemic wave of the influenza A H1N1 2009 virus, morbidity was particularly high in Brazil. Hospitalizations resulting from severe respiratory disease due to suspected influenza-like illness created an opportunity to identify other respiratory viruses causing lower respiratory infections. ⋯ These data highlight the need to diagnose other viral infections that can co-circulate with influenza and may have been neglected by physicians as causes of severe respiratory diseases.