My Sister Has The Swine Flu!
I received an alarming phone call this morning from my youngest sister Brooke (from Virginia) this morning telling me that she was diagnosed with the Swine Flu (also called H1N1)! I was panicked! After we got off the phone, I started pulling up some data on the disease.
For those fo you not familiar with the swine flu, it started out by infectiing patients in Canada and Mexico this past Spring and Summer. Hospital intensive care units became swamped with patients who were becoming critically ill with the H1N1 virus. Many of these patients were healthy young adolescents and adults. They were having to be hospitalized and treated in ICU’s within a day or two of being admitted. Many of these patients even required ventilators.
As more reports are surfacing, it appears some other countries have been experiencing similiar infections, including Australia and New Zealand. As this pandemic continues, it appears the US may very well have to brace for widespread illness. The US must prepare now for the worst. The biggest threat we face is not having our hospitals prepared for a widespread epidemic. Hurricane Katrina only proves as evidence of what can happen when a country is slow to prepare and react. Without preparation, there are many areas of the country that will become overwhelmed…and people may not get the treatments they need. This is the scary part.
Dr. John J. Treanor, a professor of medicine and of microbiology and immunology at the University of Rochester Medical Center stated, “The concern is that we would have difficulty meeting the demand because our health-care system operates near capacity most of the time, and there’s not a lot of excess capacity in the system”.
Fortunately so far, it appears that most cases of the H1N1 flu remain mild…which is GREAT! But, the number of people becoming severely ill is likely to grow. The demographics of people who are hospitalized in Mexico, Canada, and Australia are consistent with the U.S. trends seen so far. The virus is affecting mostly older adolescents and young adults. To this point, the elderly haven’t been affected on the same levels.
In a recent Canadien study, the average age of H1N1 infection was 32.3 years of age (168 confirmed or probable cases). One amazing statistic was that 113 were female. The average time from onset of flu symptoms to hospitalization was 4 days. The patients conditions worsened so quickly, they were normally sent to an ICU within 48 hours. Of the people sent to an ICU, nearly 80% required mechanical breathing. 14.3% of the people with critical illness died.
In a similiar mexican study, the average age of infection was 44. About 1/4 of the patients were obese. Within two months of admission, 41.4 percent of the critically ill patients had died. Four of them died while waiting for ICU beds!
One thing to stress…prompt and proper care HAS saved most lives!
This could change though if our hospitals are not prepared. Many researchers have compared the H1N1 Swine Flu to the deadly 1918 Spanish Pandemic.
I’ll keep you posted on my Sister’s condition. She’s a super healthy 25 year old girl in fantastic condition. She takes care of herself and is not the type of person who will stay at home in bed while her symptoms are getting worse!
If you believe you are experiencing symptoms of the Swine Flu or have been exposed, go see your doctor!
For more information about H1N1, visit the CDC’s website…
Heather
heather @ womenshealthquestions.org
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!
