Swine flu spreading at 'unbelievable' rate: WHO

…Larger numbers of severely ill patients requiring intensive care are likely to be the most urgent burden on health services, creating pressures that could overwhelm intensive care units and possibly disrupt the provision of care for other diseases…

…Perhaps most significantly, clinicians from around the world are reporting a very severe form of disease, also in young and otherwise healthy people, which is rarely seen during seasonal influenza infections. In these patients, the virus directly infects the lung, causing severe respiratory failure. Saving these lives depends on highly specialized and demanding care in intensive care units, usually with long and costly stay.

During the winter season in the southern hemisphere, several countries have viewed the need for intensive care as the greatest burden on health services. Some cities in these countries report that nearly 15 percent of hospitalized cases have required intensive care.
Preparedness measures need to anticipate this increased demand on intensive care units, which could be overwhelmed by a sudden surge in the number of severe cases.
Vulnerable groups
An increased risk during pregnancy is now consistently well-documented across countries. This risk takes on added significance for a virus, like this one, that preferentially infects younger people….

… Obesity, which is frequently present in severe and fatal cases, is now a global epidemic…

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/notes/h1n1_second_wave_20090828/en/index.html

For hospital nurses we need to insist our facilities plan for increased census in ICU as well as education, isolation , and protective equipment.

my family and I both got the swine flu this summer and it was not fun..I ended up with pneumonia. My lungs never hurt so bad.
I and my family will still get the h1n1 vaccine shot's when they come out in October.
Tricia RN