Re: Peru - Swine Flu - 80 Deaths
Re: Peru - Swine Flu - 80 Deaths
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/soci.../hospitales/elpepusoc/20090829elpepisoc_5/Tes
Translation: Spanish ? English
MAR?A R. SAHUQUILLO - Madrid - 29/08/2009
WHO warns that the flu can overwhelm hospitals
The organization advises the Northern Hemisphere of the new wave of infections
The colder it becomes, the more the H1N1 virus survives. More and more it spreads contagious. The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday warned the northern hemisphere countries to prepare for the arrival of a second wave of infections by the new flu. A second peak could also have "serious consequences" than those of the first (spring), when it began detecting the first infected. Especially because the large number of affected which can cause the disease could "overwhelm" the health services, they say. Many of those affected will also severe cases. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, WHO European first and then had warned that a third of the population would be affected by H1N1.
For now, the new flu has claimed 2185 lives, 21 of them in Spain. The latter, a 41 year old female who died in Castilla-La Mancha and have not transcended more data. The H1N1 has affected, as estimated by the WHO, 209,438 people in over 177 countries. The virus remains mild, it has not detected any mutation in it, but its expansion is rapid. And the more infections are more serious cases, experts say. One has only to observe the example of the southern hemisphere, where the virus has gained strength through the winter. There, in some cities 15% of people hospitalized for the disease needed intensive care.
This example should spread in the northern hemisphere. Where the arrival of the cold will help increase the number of infections. Therefore, countries should be vigilant because the consequences of H1N1 will be felt. Pressure care for severe cases may be such that the treatment and care for other diseases also may suffer serious, as the WHO warns. The large number of people needing intensive care will be the "most urgent" for health services, they say.
The organization directed by Margaret Chan yesterday released a document which recommends that countries take measures to prepare to deal with this second wave of infections. The expected peak of infection that many experts place the second week of September. Moreover, many of the more severe cases of breathing difficulties and lung infection. They will need to enter, says WHO in intensive care units. In this type of care, its availability and the haste with which they do, says the organization will depend to save lives. So, they say, "should anticipate increased demand" for this type of care.
WHO forecasts are not isolated. On Monday an official report of the group of scientific advisors to the U.S. government warned that in that country two million people could be hospitalized during the winter by influenza A. Of these, they warned, some 300,000 require intensive care to join.
Moreover, if even for a vaccine to combat the virus, which is not available until November, only serves prevention. Careful preparations must be especially alert to the WHO, people with risk factors for pregnant women, patients breathing, diabetics, immunosuppressed and obese.
There is an added risk to the disease. So far, 40% of cases of serious infections in the world occurred in healthy children and adults under 50 years. What makes this bird very different from the seasonal, which mainly affects people above that age.
But H1N1 is here to stay. So far has managed to displace the seasonal flu virus. "Tests conducted in places with outbreaks show that the H1N1 pandemic virus was quickly established and is now the dominant strain of flu in most of the world," says the WHO. One example will be analyzed only for Spain. Of the 18,398 estimated cases of clinical influenza during the week of 16 to 22 August, 82% were influenza A
