200 kids admitted to B.C. hospitals for severe Swine Flu as deaths climb

200 children have been admitted to hospital so far for Swine Flu. Photo Salim Jiwa.

By Salim Jiwa

VANCOUVER – More than 200 children and youth under the age of 19 have been admitted to hospital with severe Swine Flu since the start of the pandemic, according to figures released by the B.C. Center for Disease Control.

But the government has not said when it will vaccinate all children and youth under 19. So far, it has approved vaccination for children below the age of five and those with underlying medical conditions. 

A ten-year-old child is among eight people reported dead by the B.C. government this week.

 202  people were admitted to hospital this week in the worst weekly tally since the start of Swine Flu in April, a government bulletin said Tuesday.

In the last two weeks, 300 admissions have been reported, and statistics show that it is likely that 100 of those are under 19.

Statistics released by the BCCDC shows the following percentages for admission to hospitals for severe Swine Flu.

• Children aged under 2 years – 6 per cent of all admissions.
• Children and youth 2 to 19 years – 27 per cent of all admissions.
• Adults 20 to 39 – 26 per cent of all admissions.
• Adults aged 40 to 64 – 32 per cent of all admissions.
• Adults over 64 – 9 per cent of all admissions.

Combined, children under 2 and those aged 2 to 19  represent a total of 33 per cent of all admissions. The ministry of health announced on Tuesday that 601 have been admitted to hospital for severe Swine Flu so far. The figures translate into 200 admissions for those aged under 19, including 36 infants.

B.C. has not implemented a vaccination program for persons under 19 despite  statistics that show they represent one out three hospitalizations.

Only children with underlying medical risks and children aged below five are currently being vaccinated. Some sporting teams have jumped the queue to get at vaccine that is in short-supply.

BCCDC statistics also show that just over 52 per cent of the deaths have occurred in females.  So far 23 people have died in B.C.

26 per cent of all admissions have been to ICU. 19 per cent have required ventilation, 37 per cent have pneumonia, 46 per cent have required oxygen therapy.

The B.C. government bulletin released on Tuesday showed a grim tally of flu illness in B.C.

“Since Nov. 3, there have been 202 new severe cases of H1N1 identified in B.C. – 96 in Fraser Health, 47 in Vancouver Coastal Health, 44 in Interior Health, 11 in Northern Health and four on Vancouver Island – with eight new deaths, including three in Vancouver Coastal Health, three on Vancouver Island and two in Fraser Health,” the ministry of health confirmed in its latest bulletin issued at noon on Tuesday.

This is the highest death toll in any reporting period, but deaths have been escalating in B.C. since October when the second wave of the pandemic struck. 88 were admitted to hospital in the previous week, to take the total of those hospitalized in less than 20 days to 300.

So far, 601 people have been hospitalized in B.C. since April.

• Since Nov. 3, there have been 202 new severe cases of H1N1 identified in B.C., with eight new deaths.
• In total, BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) has confirmed 601 severe H1N1 cases in British Columbia since April 2009, including:

o   Two hundred and sixty-two in Fraser Health, including eleven deaths.

o   One hundred and thirty in Interior Health, including three deaths.

o   Twenty-five in Northern Health.

o   One hundred and fifty-seven in Vancouver Coastal Health, including five deaths.

o   Twenty-seven on Vancouver Island, including four deaths.

• To date, 23 laboratory-confirmed H1N1 cases in B.C. are reported to have died. In 22 of those cases, there were underlying medical conditions.

B.C. said it will no longer report on how many patients have been admitted to ICU. The reason for failing to report that is not clear, but increasingly, both the B.C. government and the B.C. Center for Disease Control have been sanitizing their information as much as possible.

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