Research article on H1N1 & ICU Capacity in US

Published Sep 2, 2009

165 Posts

Public Library of Science research article on ICU capacity here in the US:

http://knol.google.com/k/marya-d-zilberberg/swine-origin-influenza-a-h1n1-virus-and/3htiswudddv6h/1#

"We developed a model simulating the potential impact of influenza H1N1 pandemic on the volume of acute respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation (ARF-MV) and the accompanying mortality rate in the US. We calculate that 46 million people will contract the infection, resulting in 2.7 million hospitalizations, 331,587 episodes of ARF-MV and nearly 200,000 deaths, suggesting that the US may require the ability to provide MV at a volume approximately 33% over the current annual use."

(emphasis mine)

We have something like 6,000 ICU beds, don't we?

Btw, for those of you who take an interest in the deeper science of A/H1N1 - there are many H1N1 research articles being published there.

http://knol.google.com/k/plos/plos-currents-influenza/28qm4w0q65e4w/1%23#