Swine Flu Takes Heavy Toll Among the Healthy

[indigo girl]

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/health/Swine+takes+heavy+toll+among+healthy/1919490/story.html

This is one of the aspects that I find most fascinating about this unpredictable virus. The utter randomness of the chance of a fatal outcome in healthy people. I found it puzzling, and worrisome when I began this thread: https://allnurses.com/pandemic-flu-forum/no-prior-existing-400466.html dedicated to gathering whatever cases I could find of these occurrences, and I still find it even more so now when numbers and percentages get mentioned. I suspect that if we had access to the true number of these cases, that it would be very surprising. As it is, we get only hints, but if the WHO is saying 40% that's amazing because most of these deaths are no longer publicly reported. 40% of the severe cases were healthy prior to coming down with flu, geez!! I don't like these odds at all...

The World Health Organization is warning that underlying health problems "will not reliably predict all or even most cases" of severe H1N1 influenza.

Worldwide, about 40 per cent of severe cases are occurring in previously healthy children and adults, usually under the age of 50, the WHO said Friday in issuing new guidelines on the use of antivirals developed by an international expert panel.

In Canada, among cases where information is available, about 46 per cent of those hospitalized so far with swine flu had no underlying medical condition. Among those who have died, 75 per cent had a pre-existing health problem, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Most patients infected with the pandemic virus have mild symptoms and recover fully within a week, even without any medical treatment, the WHO says.

But patients with severe H1N1 infection can experience "a sudden and very rapid deterioration in their clinical condition," the WHO said, usually five or six days after the onset of symptoms. H1N1 can cause viral pneumonia, which destroys lung tissue and is a leading cause of death for H1N1 and seasonal flu, and failure of the heart, kidneys and liver.

[justiceforjoy]

Yes, it induces a severe immuno *response*, hence those with lesser immune systems aren't actually at as much risk as healthy young people.

It is like the flu of 1918.

[oramar]

Yes, it induces a severe immuno *response*, hence those with lesser immune systems aren't actually at as much risk as healthy young people.

It is like the flu of 1918.

If I said it once I said it 100 time, it is 1918 H1N1 to the letter.