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Month already deadliest for H1N1 infections
By Aaron Derfel , Montreal Gazette
November 12, 2009 9:02 PM
Data released Thursday suggest that the number of H1N1 infections in Canada has not yet peaked during this, the second wave of the pandemic.
Photograph by: Regis Duvignau, Reuters
MONTREAL ? Less than two weeks in, November is already on record as the deadliest month for H1N1 infections in Canada since the flu pandemic erupted in late April, according to statistics released Thursday by public-health authorities.
The data suggest that the number of H1N1 infections in Canada has not yet peaked during this, the second wave of the pandemic. What's more, most Canadians will probably not have received their vaccinations until after the peak, warn experts in infectious diseases.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization is reporting that this year's flu season in North America is the worst in the past six years.
"We're probably in the third or fourth week of the second wave, and the second wave is bigger than the first," said Karl Weiss, a microbiologist and physician at Montreal's Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital.
Mark Roper, co-director of a family medicine clinic at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, said he's noticed a surge in cases in the past few weeks.
"They're coming in all of a sudden," Roper said. "In our walk-in clinic, which is not even a flu clinic, we're seeing about 20 cases a day.
"We're seeing a lot of kids," he added. "But if they're not in the at-risk groups, we're sending them home and advising them to drink plenty of liquids and to take Tylenol."
A Montreal Gazette analysis of data by the Public Health Agency of Canada has found the number of deaths in the country peaked in July, with 34 deaths that month. Most of those who had died had been infected in May or June and had stayed in the ICU for weeks on respirators.
As of Thursday, the agency has reported 66 deaths since Oct. 29. From Tuesday to Thursday, the death toll climbed by 26 deaths nationally.
As the second wave picks up, the big question on the minds of epidemiologists is whether H1N1 is worse than a typical flu season. The answer to that question is far from clear, since authorities are no longer recording every case of H1N1 in the community.
Theresa Tam, director, of the immunization and respiratory infections division of the Public Health Agency of Canada, has estimated that Canada's death toll from the seasonal flu ranges from 700 to 2,500 a year. Most of those deaths occur in the elderly.
An Ontario study found that in 2006-2007, 75 elderly people died of complications from confirmed influenza in long-term care centres.
The cumulative total of H1N1 deaths this year across Canada is 161.
Some experts have predicted that H1N1 will cause far more infections than the seasonal flu, but there will be fewer deaths than in most years.
In addition, more children, teens and young adults are likely to fall ill from the flu this year than in the past.
In fact, 52 per cent of all hospitalizations in Quebec since Aug. 30 have occurred in individuals who are less than 29 years old.
Weiss expressed concern that most might not be vaccinated in time for the peak of the current wave.
"Since we're already three or four weeks in, are we too far into the wave to immunize everybody and to have an impact?" he asked.
http://www.working.com/Month+already+deadliest+H1N1+infections/2216371/story.html
By Aaron Derfel , Montreal Gazette
November 12, 2009 9:02 PM
Data released Thursday suggest that the number of H1N1 infections in Canada has not yet peaked during this, the second wave of the pandemic.
Photograph by: Regis Duvignau, Reuters
MONTREAL ? Less than two weeks in, November is already on record as the deadliest month for H1N1 infections in Canada since the flu pandemic erupted in late April, according to statistics released Thursday by public-health authorities.
The data suggest that the number of H1N1 infections in Canada has not yet peaked during this, the second wave of the pandemic. What's more, most Canadians will probably not have received their vaccinations until after the peak, warn experts in infectious diseases.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization is reporting that this year's flu season in North America is the worst in the past six years.
"We're probably in the third or fourth week of the second wave, and the second wave is bigger than the first," said Karl Weiss, a microbiologist and physician at Montreal's Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital.
Mark Roper, co-director of a family medicine clinic at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, said he's noticed a surge in cases in the past few weeks.
"They're coming in all of a sudden," Roper said. "In our walk-in clinic, which is not even a flu clinic, we're seeing about 20 cases a day.
"We're seeing a lot of kids," he added. "But if they're not in the at-risk groups, we're sending them home and advising them to drink plenty of liquids and to take Tylenol."
A Montreal Gazette analysis of data by the Public Health Agency of Canada has found the number of deaths in the country peaked in July, with 34 deaths that month. Most of those who had died had been infected in May or June and had stayed in the ICU for weeks on respirators.
As of Thursday, the agency has reported 66 deaths since Oct. 29. From Tuesday to Thursday, the death toll climbed by 26 deaths nationally.
As the second wave picks up, the big question on the minds of epidemiologists is whether H1N1 is worse than a typical flu season. The answer to that question is far from clear, since authorities are no longer recording every case of H1N1 in the community.
Theresa Tam, director, of the immunization and respiratory infections division of the Public Health Agency of Canada, has estimated that Canada's death toll from the seasonal flu ranges from 700 to 2,500 a year. Most of those deaths occur in the elderly.
An Ontario study found that in 2006-2007, 75 elderly people died of complications from confirmed influenza in long-term care centres.
The cumulative total of H1N1 deaths this year across Canada is 161.
Some experts have predicted that H1N1 will cause far more infections than the seasonal flu, but there will be fewer deaths than in most years.
In addition, more children, teens and young adults are likely to fall ill from the flu this year than in the past.
In fact, 52 per cent of all hospitalizations in Quebec since Aug. 30 have occurred in individuals who are less than 29 years old.
Weiss expressed concern that most might not be vaccinated in time for the peak of the current wave.
"Since we're already three or four weeks in, are we too far into the wave to immunize everybody and to have an impact?" he asked.
http://www.working.com/Month+already+deadliest+H1N1+infections/2216371/story.html