Gert van der Hoek
In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator
October 2, 2009
Most children treated in hospital for swine flu were previously healthy
Eight out of ten young children requiring hospital treatment for swine flu were previously healthy, a new study shows.
An analysis of inpatient treatment in England also found that more than half of people aged 16 to 44 had no previous underlying health conditions before being admitted.
The same study on a random sample of 192 patients found that more than one in four had asthma, about 15 per cent had heart disease and 10 per cent suffered from diabetes.
The breakdown came as Sir Liam Donaldson, the Government’s Chief Medical Officer, said that the number of swine flu cases in England had risen for the third week in a row.
“The continued increase in swine flu activity is consistent with the early stages of a second wave,” he said, but added that the rates were nothing yet like the “explosive increases” that would be expected at the peak of a pandemic.
Overall, cases of swine flu have risen for a third week in a row, to an estimated 14,000 cases in England, and 13,800 in Scotland, health agencies said.
Levels of illness are still far below what would be expected in a bad winter but there have been two more deaths linked to the virus in England, and one more in Scotland, bringing the total in Britain to 85.
timesonline uk
Most children treated in hospital for swine flu were previously healthy
Eight out of ten young children requiring hospital treatment for swine flu were previously healthy, a new study shows.
An analysis of inpatient treatment in England also found that more than half of people aged 16 to 44 had no previous underlying health conditions before being admitted.
The same study on a random sample of 192 patients found that more than one in four had asthma, about 15 per cent had heart disease and 10 per cent suffered from diabetes.
The breakdown came as Sir Liam Donaldson, the Government’s Chief Medical Officer, said that the number of swine flu cases in England had risen for the third week in a row.
“The continued increase in swine flu activity is consistent with the early stages of a second wave,” he said, but added that the rates were nothing yet like the “explosive increases” that would be expected at the peak of a pandemic.
Overall, cases of swine flu have risen for a third week in a row, to an estimated 14,000 cases in England, and 13,800 in Scotland, health agencies said.
Levels of illness are still far below what would be expected in a bad winter but there have been two more deaths linked to the virus in England, and one more in Scotland, bringing the total in Britain to 85.
timesonline uk