Doctors reporting a new severe form of swine flu that goes straight to the lungs, causing severe illness in healthy young people requiring expensive hospital treatment. Some countries reporting that as many as 15 percent of patients hospitalized with the new H1N1 pandemic virus need intensive care.
Preparedness measures need to anticipate this increased demand on intensive care units, which could be overwhelmed by a sudden surge in H1N1 infections. World Health Orginization reporting that H1N1 had reached epidemic levels in Japan, signaling an early start to influenza season. Perhaps most significantly, clinicians from around the world are reporting a very severe form of disease in young otherwise healthy people. This is rarely seen during a normal influenza season. In these patients, the virus directly infects the lung, causing severe respiratory failure. Saving lives depends on highly specialized and demanding care in intensive care units, usually with long costly stays.
Risk in minority groups is four to five times higher than in the general population, The reasons are not fully understood, possible explanations include lower standards of living and poor overall health status, including a high prevalence of conditions such as asthma, diabetes and hypertension.
World Health Organization estimates 250,000 to 500,000 people will die world wide. Because hardly anyone has immunity to the new H1N1 virus, experts believe it will infect far more people than usual, as much as a third of the population. Mutated H1N1 disproportionately affects young people, unlike normal seasonal flu which mainly burdens the elderly. New H1N1 virus may cause more severe illness and deaths among young adults and children than normal seasonal flu.

No Kissing Please
College and Universities across the country are seeing spikes in the number of students with suspected cases of swine flu as dorms fill up and classes begin for the fall semester. At Georgia Tech in Atlanta, classes are in full swing for the university’s 20,000 students, and so is the highly contagious H1N1 virus. The university has had 150 suspected cases of the virus in the two weeks since students moved back to campus.
University of Kansas, almost 200 students have reported having flu-like symptoms in the last week. University of Tennessee administrators are estimating about 100 suspected swine flu cases on campus. University of Alabama had more than 50 cases of flu reported on the first day of classes last week. Texas Christian University, 10 students were diagnosed with swine flu on the first day of class. We’re finding out for the first time in a long time how quickly a contagious disease can move.
Getting ready for the expected outbreak, colleges stocked up on hand sanitizing gel and Tamiflu while others have designated empty dorms where sick students can be isolated. Some campuses have developed flu kits with items like tissues, thermometers and box lunches for students in isolation. We all knew this was going to happen. University of Georgia health clinic, which has seen nearly 50 suspected swine flu cases in the last two weeks. We have doctors in place. Health officials concern is that swine flu is very contagious and spreads quickly once it is introduced to a population. That means hundreds more could get sick in the next few weeks.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta recommends students with flu symptoms fever, cough, sneezing, chills, aches, sometimes diarrhea or vomiting stay home from class. The mere fact you have lots of people in close proximity with each other results in the virus being transmitted from person to person. I don’t think we’re surprised by the fact influenza is returning to these campuses. What is concerning to us is people becoming complacent about this and not taking the steps we know can help to protect them.
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