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Effect of H1N1 on Southern Hemisphere ICUs Assessed

Data can help Northern Hemisphere hospitals prepare for virus's impact in upcoming winter

THURSDAY, Oct. 8 (HealthDay News) -- During the winter of 2009 in Australia and New Zealand, the H1N1 flu virus had a significant effect on hospital intensive care units, according to a study published online Oct. 8 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Steven A.R. Webb, Ph.D., of the Royal Perth Hospital in Australia, and colleagues performed an inception-cohort study in all intensive care units in Australia and New Zealand in the Southern Hemisphere's winter of 2009.

From June 1 through Aug. 31, 722 H1N1 patients (28.7 cases per million inhabitants) were admitted to intensive care units in the two countries. These patients were in the intensive care units for a total of 8,815 bed days (350 per million inhabitants), and the median length of treatment in the intensive care unit was seven days. In addition, 64.6 percent of the patients with available data were on mechanical ventilation for a median of eight days. As of Sept. 7, 14.3 percent of the 722 patients had died and 15.8 percent were still hospitalized.

"Knowledge of the rate of ICU admission and occupancy due to 2009 H1N1 influenza during the winter in Australia and New Zealand can inform the planning and assessment of critical care needs in countries yet to face the 2009 winter," the authors write.

The study was supported in part by a grant from CSL Ltd. Several authors reported financial relationships with other pharmaceutical companies.

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