Asthma Linked to Severe Cases

[indigo girl]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/12/30/severe_h1n1_cases_and_asthma_are_linked/?

... a review of disease surveillance records by Massachusetts health authorities has found that one chronic condition is far more common than any other among patients hospitalized with H1N1 infections: asthma.

The persistent respiratory ailment, which has become strikingly more prevalent in recent decades, was present in 31 percent of swine flu patients who entered Massachusetts hospitals already suffering from longstanding health problems. By comparison, 6 percent of those swine flu patients had heart problems, and 6 percent had kidney disease.

The finding provides fresh evidence of the toll influenza exacts on people whose ability to breathe is already compromised. And it led specialists this week to reinforce their admonition that patients with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and other respiratory conditions should be vaccinated against H1N1 as well as the seasonal strain.

(hat tip pfi/pixie)

[indigo girl]

Quispamsis, New Brunswich

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/12/30/nb-swine-flu-fatality.html

Michael Thomas Neill, 27, of Quispamsis, died Monday at the Saint John Regional Hospital, after battling the virus for nearly four weeks.

Although Neill suffered from asthma, he didn't get the swine flu shot. And the antiviral medications didn't work, making him the eighth and youngest fatality related to the swine flu in the province.

Carolyn Neill hopes her son's story will convince more people to get the shot.

"I can remember saying to him, 'Mike, with you, with asthma, if there's any sense in your head at all, go get that H1N1 needle.'"

(hat tip pfi/aurora)