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Another informative piece from the Salt Lake Tribune.
H1N1-linked death toll rises
S.L. County ? Six have died in region as hospitals report being inundated with patients with flu-like symptoms.
By Heather May
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 06/16/2009 06:13:47 PM MDT
Six Salt Lake County residents now have died after testing positive for H1N1 swine flu and nearly 100 have been hospitalized with the novel strain.
The past four deaths have occurred in the past week, as hospitals in the valley report being inundated with patients with flu-like symptoms and doctors race to understand more about the new virus.
Nathan Dean, chief of pulmonary critical care at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray and LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, said about one patient a day has been admitted to the intensive care unit for the past three weeks.
Most ICU patients have been overweight, he said, which is puzzling: Their weight isn't causing other health conditions that the federal government says puts people at higher risk of severe influenza complications, such as cardiovascular disease or diabetes, he said.
"I really don't consider being overweight a disease, at least in the patients we're seeing," Dean said. "It's not like they're so [obese] they've gone into heart failure. Somehow, the disease is striking them."
About a fourth of the ICU flu patients have suffered from an inflamed airway, exacerbated by conditions like asthma or emphysema. Nationally, asthma is the most common condition causing hospitalizations.
Other patients end up in the ICU suffering from adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) or septic shock, he said. ARDS is a lung condition that leads to low oxygen levels in the blood, which can harm organs, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
And while septic shock, which can lead to low blood pressure and organ failure, is normally associated with bacterial infections, doctors aren't seeing such infections with flu patients.
"The virus itself seems to be initiating the septic shock cascade," said Dean, who said the virus reminds him of hantavirus, which is transmitted through rodent urine, droppings or saliva, and can cause acute respiratory distress.
The latest reported Salt Lake County deaths were a man between the ages of 25 and 50 who died Saturday and a woman who was 25 to 60 years old who died Monday. All six of the patients who have died had underlying health conditions that "may have put them at higher risk of complications or death, according to Salt Lake Valley Health Department spokeswoman Pam Davenport.
In two cases, those conditions have included obesity and sleep apnea and a liver condition, according to hospital officials or family members.
Additional deaths "are not unexpected," Gary Edwards, the department's executive director, said in a statement.
The continuing illnesses are surprising, since it was believed that the flu would take a summertime lull.
"Utah seems to be having a lot more of this than the rest of the country, in terms of severity of disease," Dean said. "It's partly because we have larger numbers of influenza than surrounding states. ... We're just trying to figure this out."
The Utah Department of Health will release statewide hospitalization numbers Wednesday. The average age of the most sick in the county is 21 years, with a range of 10 days old to 76 years old. Nationally, 1,621 people have been hospitalized as of Friday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend giving antiviral medications only to hospitalized patients and patients with underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk of complications. Doctors should also consider prophylactically treating people who live with flu patients and are at high risk of complications, the CDC says.
But Dean and others say people who have had symptoms of the flu, including a fever, cough, body aches and fatigue, for less than 48 hours should seek medications. "Why not use something you know works?" Dean said.
Antiviral wholesalers have reported to the state health department that there is an adequate private supply of Tamiflu and Relenza, but individual pharmacies may not have enough. A Sugarhouse Walgreen's pharmacist said Tamiflu is sold as quickly as it is stocked.
Tribune reporters Brooke Adams and Andrew Maddocks contributed to this story.
Link: http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_12603135
H1N1-linked death toll rises
S.L. County ? Six have died in region as hospitals report being inundated with patients with flu-like symptoms.
By Heather May
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 06/16/2009 06:13:47 PM MDT
Six Salt Lake County residents now have died after testing positive for H1N1 swine flu and nearly 100 have been hospitalized with the novel strain.
The past four deaths have occurred in the past week, as hospitals in the valley report being inundated with patients with flu-like symptoms and doctors race to understand more about the new virus.
Nathan Dean, chief of pulmonary critical care at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray and LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, said about one patient a day has been admitted to the intensive care unit for the past three weeks.
Most ICU patients have been overweight, he said, which is puzzling: Their weight isn't causing other health conditions that the federal government says puts people at higher risk of severe influenza complications, such as cardiovascular disease or diabetes, he said.
"I really don't consider being overweight a disease, at least in the patients we're seeing," Dean said. "It's not like they're so [obese] they've gone into heart failure. Somehow, the disease is striking them."
About a fourth of the ICU flu patients have suffered from an inflamed airway, exacerbated by conditions like asthma or emphysema. Nationally, asthma is the most common condition causing hospitalizations.
Other patients end up in the ICU suffering from adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) or septic shock, he said. ARDS is a lung condition that leads to low oxygen levels in the blood, which can harm organs, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
And while septic shock, which can lead to low blood pressure and organ failure, is normally associated with bacterial infections, doctors aren't seeing such infections with flu patients.
"The virus itself seems to be initiating the septic shock cascade," said Dean, who said the virus reminds him of hantavirus, which is transmitted through rodent urine, droppings or saliva, and can cause acute respiratory distress.
The latest reported Salt Lake County deaths were a man between the ages of 25 and 50 who died Saturday and a woman who was 25 to 60 years old who died Monday. All six of the patients who have died had underlying health conditions that "may have put them at higher risk of complications or death, according to Salt Lake Valley Health Department spokeswoman Pam Davenport.
In two cases, those conditions have included obesity and sleep apnea and a liver condition, according to hospital officials or family members.
Additional deaths "are not unexpected," Gary Edwards, the department's executive director, said in a statement.
The continuing illnesses are surprising, since it was believed that the flu would take a summertime lull.
"Utah seems to be having a lot more of this than the rest of the country, in terms of severity of disease," Dean said. "It's partly because we have larger numbers of influenza than surrounding states. ... We're just trying to figure this out."
The Utah Department of Health will release statewide hospitalization numbers Wednesday. The average age of the most sick in the county is 21 years, with a range of 10 days old to 76 years old. Nationally, 1,621 people have been hospitalized as of Friday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend giving antiviral medications only to hospitalized patients and patients with underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk of complications. Doctors should also consider prophylactically treating people who live with flu patients and are at high risk of complications, the CDC says.
But Dean and others say people who have had symptoms of the flu, including a fever, cough, body aches and fatigue, for less than 48 hours should seek medications. "Why not use something you know works?" Dean said.
Antiviral wholesalers have reported to the state health department that there is an adequate private supply of Tamiflu and Relenza, but individual pharmacies may not have enough. A Sugarhouse Walgreen's pharmacist said Tamiflu is sold as quickly as it is stocked.
Tribune reporters Brooke Adams and Andrew Maddocks contributed to this story.
Link: http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_12603135