“H1N1 influenza revisited: Our experience of the 2019 outbreak”

Authors

  • Swati Hegde Assistant Professor, Department of General Medicine, Ramaiah Medical College, M S R Nagar, Bengaluru- 560054, Karnataka, India
  • Vijayashree Thyagaraj Professor, Department of General Medicine, Ramaiah Medical College, M S R Nagar, Bengaluru- 560054, Karnataka, India
  • Divya Prabhu Assistant Professor, Department of General Medicine, Ramaiah Medical College, M S R Nagar, Bengaluru- 560054, Karnataka, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3329/bjms.v21i2.58077

Keywords:

H1N1 influenza, swine flu, mortality, pandemic, outbreak

Abstract

Background: The first case of H1N1 influenza was reported in India in 2009. A decade later it continues to jeopardize India’s healthcare infrastructure. There is voluminous data available regarding the 2009 Swine flu pandemic. This study aimed to outline the clinico-laboratory profile and outcome of patients in the recent 2019 H1N1 outbreak and compare these parameters between survivors and non-survivors.

Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive study of the clinico-laboratory parameters of patients hospitalized with H1N1 influenza from October 2018 to September 2019 in a tertiary care hospital in South India.

Results and Discussion: Of the 121 patients included, 110 were survivors and 11 non- survivors with 9% mortality. Fever (97%) was the commonest complaint followed by cough (92%) and breathing difficulty (38%). At admission tachypnea and low saturation was common among the non-survivors and was statistically significant when compared tosurvivors. Presence of bibasal or diffuse crepitations on lung auscultation was associated with poor outcome. On chest radiographs, lower zones appeared commonly affected, and involvement of bilateral mid zone and lower zone (36.4%) was significantly higher in the non-survivors’ group.

Conclusion: Our findings summarized that respiratory rate, finger pulse oximetry, and chest radiograph remain a valuable tool in identifying high risk patients. Although the mortality rate associated with H1N1 is decreasing, there is speculation aplenty whether this contagious illness has already been conquered or not.

Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol. 21 No. 02 April’22 Page : 426-431

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
Abstract
18
PDF
43

Downloads

Published

2022-02-25

How to Cite

Hegde, S. ., Thyagaraj, V. ., & Prabhu, D. . (2022). “H1N1 influenza revisited: Our experience of the 2019 outbreak”. Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science, 21(2), 426–431. https://doi.org/10.3329/bjms.v21i2.58077

Issue

Vol. 21 No. 2 (2022)

Section

Original Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Swati Hegde, Vijayashree Thyagaraj, Divya Prabhu

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish in the Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science agree to the following terms that:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science the right of first publication of the work.

  2. Creative Commons Licence
    Articles in Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License CC BY-4.0.This license permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
  3. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  4. Authors are permitted to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as greater citation of published work.