Given the number of questions from friends and family about the H1N1 outbreak, I thought I'd re-publish this information, originally assembled by my favorite Infection Control expert. There are a few related attachments that include some more details. Stay healthy everyone!
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Q:
Why is the media playing this flu up so terribly strong - like everyone is going to die as soon as they get the H1N1? Why and how is the H1N1 so different?
A:
Two reasons:
- The H1N1 is more adversely affecting the younger population instead of the older population (Pediatrics deaths in the US are already at 53 versus 43-70 in a normal flu season (and "seasonal flu" has yet to hit - we get another round of this in January), and H1N1 hasn't peaked. In general the "seasonal" flu mainly cause the most severe outcomes in the immunocompromised population. The H1N1 is affecting healthy people and causing significant complications, which we don't normally see in healthy people with seasonal flu (the average age of a H1N1 patient is 22 years old). In fact, because many of the older population may carry some immunity from the 1976 outbreak of Swine Flu - they are not even considered high risk and are not a priority for the H1N1 vaccination (quite opposite the seasonal flu).
- Since all communities in general have what is considered "low immunity" to the H1N1 (as there hasn't been a vaccine since 1976, so no one is considered immune) - Without immunizations it has the potential to affect a much larger population then that of the seasonal flu (because many people do get immunized against this). A good example was no vaccine at all for the flu outbreak of 1918 - it caused 40 million deaths worldwide. We have just begun in the past week immunizing the "high risk" population against the H1N1, but it's still not readily available for the general public.