Swine Flu: 85 pregnant women, 379 kids hospitalized so far in Canada
Latest Canadian Swine Flu map shows highest intensity in dark blue.
By Salim Jiwa
OTTAWA - Swine Flu continues to have a devastating effect on women in general and pregnant women in particular, according to the latest update from the Canadian ministry of health.
Out of 306 women hospitalized across Canada since the start of Swine Flu, 85 were pregnant and they had a higher rate of death, the government report released over the weekend said.
“Pregnant women had a higher burden of morbidity and mortality. Assuming 1% of the population is pregnant in a given year, approximately 5% of hospitalized cases and 5% of deaths occurred in this group,” said the government report.
“Four pregnant cases resulted in death and three of these women were in their third trimester (the trimester was unknown for one case),” said the government report.
This fact that more women in their second half of pregnancy are dying has prompted the government to suggest they get vaccinated. Doctors are also planning to start with pregnant women in the second half of their pregnancy when vaccination starts mid-week.
The report also said females are bearing the brunt of Swine Flu infection and the rates keep rising.
“The proportion of females affected, the median age and the proportion of cases with underlying medical conditions was still increasing with severity of illness this week,” said the report.
“While women and men had similar hospitalization rates, more females were admitted to ICU, required ventilation and died compared to men (approximately 60% females vs. 40% for males for all these outcomes).”
“As well, for those with severe outcomes, females had more underlying medical conditions than males; 74.2% vs. 68.4% of ICU admissions and 81.6% vs. 71.8% of deaths. In the Canadian population, there are more females than males in older age groups which may partially explain the differences observed,” said the report.
A total of 1,604 people have been hospitalized in Canada and 312 (19.5%) cases were admitted to ICU. 164 (10.2%) cases required ventilation.
379 pediatric hospitalizations had been reported since week 17 (April 26); 93.7% of these hospitalizations were due to Pandemic (H1N1) 2009, the government said.
”Since the beginning of the pandemic, four deaths due to Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 had been reported through the IMPACT network among children under 16 years of age.”
With three new deaths reported in Ontario, the national fatalities total went up to 86 in the past week.
“The overall influenza activity has increased for a fifth consecutive week. All indicators (proportion of positive influenza tests, national ILI consultation rate, number of regions reporting widespread and localized activity and number of influenza outbreaks) were higher this week compared to the previous weeks,” said the report.
There is increased influenza activity across the country, particularly in the West (BC, AB, SK, NT).
This week, 99.9% of the positive influenza A subtyped specimens were Pandemic (H1N1) 2009.
“The national crude hospitalization rate was 4.8 per 100,000 population with the highest rates in children under 15 years of age (11.2 per 100,000),” the report said.
“ The national crude mortality rate was 0.25 per 100,000 population; those 45 years and older had the highest mortality rate (0.36 per 100,000). ICU admission rate and ventilation rate were also elevated in children under five years of age (1.7 and 1.1 per 100,000, respectively).”
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- Swine Flu will be around for several years: B.C. Health Officer
- Swine Flu takes 25 more Canadian lives in one week
Posted by Salim Jiwa
on Oct 24 2009. Filed under Swine Flu.
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