FrenchieGirl
Senior Moderator
Sharp increase in swine flu cases
Janelle Miles and AAP
July 21, 2009 07:00am
QUEENSLAND'S swine flu tally has risen by more than 300 in one day.
Across the state there are 4137 confirmed cases of the human swine influenza (H1N1) - an increase of 326 since Sunday.
Queensland Health says 40 people are currently in hospital with swine flu, 18 of them in intensive care.
Another 20 people admitted to hospital are suspected as having the virus and eight of those are also in intensive care.
A 38-year-old woman last week became the first Queenslander with swine flu to die.
Meanwhile, people should prepare for elective surgery cancellations as swine flu cases mount, the state's Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young says.
Although the H1N1 virus is yet to affect elective surgery lists in Queensland, Dr Young believes hospitals may soon start cancelling some operations because of increasing numbers of swine flu patients.
"That's a day-by-day decision that individual hospitals will make," she said. "We know there'll be disruptions for the next couple of months."
Dr Young said the State Government had bought an extra 50 life-support machines as part of its swine flu response.
The machines, which push air into the lungs, are in addition to the 175 ventilated beds already available in public hospitals across the state.
"If we were to need to go beyond even that, we can," Dr Young said.
"We do have ventilators that are used . . . in theatres, in emergency departments."
Dr Young said the Government also had ordered two more heart-lung bypass machines, and was looking at potentially buying more to treat the most severely affected swine flu patients.
The extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, machines are usually used when someone is having open-heart surgery to take over the role of the heart and lungs.
"It's very, very, very rare to use ECMO to keep someone alive," Dr Young said.
"Usually it means if someone needs that, they are so end stage that they're not going to survive. It's just that with really bad flu in young people, if you can get through that period that their lungs are absolutely awful, they can't oxygenate the blood, then there's a chance they will survive.
"We occasionally use them now . . . for people with extremely severe infection. But . . . it's not a standard treatment."
If necessary, Dr Young said hospitals could relocate operating-theatre ECMO machines.
Meanwhile, H1N1 has been confirmed in the Aboriginal community of Cherbourg, northwest of Brisbane, prompting Queensland Health to set up a flu clinic at the local hospital yesterday.
Dr Young said she was concerned about swine flu developing in indigenous communities, given Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders were at increased risk of developing complications. She said a higher proportion had chronic disease.
Janelle Miles and AAP
July 21, 2009 07:00am
QUEENSLAND'S swine flu tally has risen by more than 300 in one day.
Across the state there are 4137 confirmed cases of the human swine influenza (H1N1) - an increase of 326 since Sunday.
Queensland Health says 40 people are currently in hospital with swine flu, 18 of them in intensive care.
Another 20 people admitted to hospital are suspected as having the virus and eight of those are also in intensive care.
A 38-year-old woman last week became the first Queenslander with swine flu to die.
Meanwhile, people should prepare for elective surgery cancellations as swine flu cases mount, the state's Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young says.
Although the H1N1 virus is yet to affect elective surgery lists in Queensland, Dr Young believes hospitals may soon start cancelling some operations because of increasing numbers of swine flu patients.
"That's a day-by-day decision that individual hospitals will make," she said. "We know there'll be disruptions for the next couple of months."
Dr Young said the State Government had bought an extra 50 life-support machines as part of its swine flu response.
The machines, which push air into the lungs, are in addition to the 175 ventilated beds already available in public hospitals across the state.
"If we were to need to go beyond even that, we can," Dr Young said.
"We do have ventilators that are used . . . in theatres, in emergency departments."
Dr Young said the Government also had ordered two more heart-lung bypass machines, and was looking at potentially buying more to treat the most severely affected swine flu patients.
The extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, machines are usually used when someone is having open-heart surgery to take over the role of the heart and lungs.
"It's very, very, very rare to use ECMO to keep someone alive," Dr Young said.
"Usually it means if someone needs that, they are so end stage that they're not going to survive. It's just that with really bad flu in young people, if you can get through that period that their lungs are absolutely awful, they can't oxygenate the blood, then there's a chance they will survive.
"We occasionally use them now . . . for people with extremely severe infection. But . . . it's not a standard treatment."
If necessary, Dr Young said hospitals could relocate operating-theatre ECMO machines.
Meanwhile, H1N1 has been confirmed in the Aboriginal community of Cherbourg, northwest of Brisbane, prompting Queensland Health to set up a flu clinic at the local hospital yesterday.
Dr Young said she was concerned about swine flu developing in indigenous communities, given Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders were at increased risk of developing complications. She said a higher proportion had chronic disease.