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Wednesday, 10/28/2009
European Society of Intensive Care Medicine Annual Congress focused on Influenza A (H1N1)
The results of two studies on Influenza A (H1N1) were presented at the Congress
Characteristics, treatment, and outcomes of critically ill patients in Canada and Australia with 2009 influenza A(H1N1) infection were presented at the latest European Society of Intensive Care Medicine Annual Congress, concurrently with early publications in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA 2009 Oct 12 Epub Ahead of Print).
Authors of the Canadian trial reported that critical illness due to 2009 influenza A(H1N1) in Canada occurred rapidly after hospital admission, often in young adults, and was associated with severe hypoxemia, multisystem organ failure, a requirement for prolonged mechanical ventilation, and the frequent use of rescue therapies such as high-frequency oscillatory ventilation, prone positioning ventilation, neuromuscular blockade, inhaled nitric oxide, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
The Australian study centered on all patients (n=68) with 2009 influenza A(H1N1)–associated acute respiratory distress syndrome treated with ECMO in 15 intensive care units (ICUs) in Australia and New Zealand between June 1 and August 31, 2009.
The authors reported an incidence rate of 2.6 ECMO cases per million population and confirmed that particularly young adults were affected, these young adults with severe hypoxemia had a 21% mortality rate at the end of the study period.
According to the developing situation, which is becoming an increasing health problem due to the number of critically ill admissions to Intensive Care, a web based resource was developed by the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, which will constitutes a repository of information and a Registry for cases admitted to Intensive Care with influenza A (H1N1).