H1N1 Hospitalizations Twice Normal Flu Season

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - WLKY.com

Compared to the regular seasonal flu, the H1N1 virus is putting people at greater risk for developing serious complications.

Health care workers from three different hospitals in the Louisville area said they’re concerned about the volume of people becoming critically ill.

In Kentucky, 18 people died from the H1N1 flu virus, but what people haven't heard about are the people who become critically ill.

“We've probably had between 50 and 60 people in critical care at Kosair Hospital and Norton Hospital since the pandemic began in August and September,” said Norton Health Care associate vice president clinical affairs Dr. Ken Wilson

Wilson described how the H1N1 virus gripped patients by not just sending many to emergency rooms, but by bringing dozens to the brink of death as well.

“As far the numbers of people who get seriously ill, it's about twice what they would be in normal year,” said Wilson.

It’s the same situation at University Hospital and Jewish Hospital too.

“That's a concern we're seeing is that the patients can very, very quickly become very critically ill, so where as they may present with only a day or two of symptoms at the time they come the ER, we're finding they're ending up at the intensive care unit very shortly, within 24 hours,” said Jewish Hospital chief medical officer Dr. Lynn Simon.

The types of critically ill patients filling hospital beds are also a concern.

“People that are younger, children, toddlers, infants, young infants and pregnant women are far more impacted,” said Wilson.

“The patient population we're seeing is in younger patients, 30s, 40s, 50s,” said Simon.

“The message, I would say, is if you can not get this disease that's the best thing of all and one of the ways you can do that is when the vaccines become available is to avail yourself of that opportunity,” said Wilson.

The health care professionals said many of the H1N1 cases admitted to intensive care units at local hospitals have been transferred from other hospitals across the state that did not have the facilities to treat critically ill patients.

Dozens of those admitted since June had serious respiratory problems.

So far, 18 patients died of H1N1 in Kentucky and 20 in Indiana.

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