SwineFlu/B.C/health care report w/stats

[fivetails]

Came across this article this morning - the information was taken from a report "meant for health care professionals". {Bolding in last section is theirs}

 

Swine flu sweeps across B.C. in historic trend

 

 

VANCOUVER – British Columbia is in the midst of a major Swine Flu outbreak and history is being made in the number of people turning up at the offices of sentinel physicians complaining of flu like illness and medical services plan billings.

A report, meant for health care professionals, shows B.C. children under two have the highest rate of hospitalizations followed by children aged 2 to 9 years.

Surveillance figures show 352 respiratory samples tested positive for Swine Flu in a one week period between Oct. 4 and Oct. 10 while visits to Children’s Hospital, MSP billings, reports from sentinel physicians all show a major surge in Swine Flu cases.

In a report titled “Sharp increases in Influenza Activity Indicators for the Third Consecutive week in BC†the B.C. Center for Disease Control said multiple check-points show there has been a massive spike in virus infections.

“In week 40 (October 4-10), BC continued to experienced a large increase in influenza activity,†said a summary of the report.

“All indicators including proportion of patients presenting to sentinel physicians for ILI (influenza like illness), Medical Services Plan claims for influenza, proportion of emergency room visits to BC Children’s hospital, and laboratory positivity for influenza increased sharply compared to the previous week,†the BCCDC report said.

“Seventeen school ILI outbreaks were reported during this period. At the BC Provincial Laboratory, 35% (352/998) of respiratory specimens were positive for influenza A, and all subtyped isolates were the pandemic H1N1 virus (pH1N1),†the report showed.

“Together surveillance indicators suggest that influenza activity due to pandemic H1N1 is increasing and remains above the expected range for this time of year,†it added.

Eight people have died so far since Swine Flu was first observed in B.C. around April, with the latest being a mom from the Fraser Valley. As well, there is a major increase in number of hospitalizations in B.C. during the week.

Here are highlights of the report:

 

 

• As of October 13, seventy-eight cases in BC have been admitted to hospital, of these 14 were admitted in the preceding week. Among hospitalized cases, 71% had underlying medical conditions; 18% had lung disease, 18% had asthma and 8% had chronic heart disease. 31% (24) of hospitalized cases have been admitted to the intensive care unit and 9% (7) have died. H1N1 hospitalization rates are highest in those under 2 years of age.
  
• During week 40, the percentage of patients presenting to sentinel physicians with ILI increased to 2.3%. This is higher than both the proportion reported in the previous week, the proportion observed during the peak of the 2008-09 season and the historic peak. 70% (33/47) of sentinel physicians reported for week 40.
  
• During week 40, the proportion of Emergency Room visits to BC Children’s hospital attributed to ILI increased from 9% to 15.0%, this is higher than the proportions observed during the same week in previous years.
  
• Influenza illness as a proportion of all submitted BC Medical Services Plan (MSP) claims continued to climb steeply in week 40. On a regional level, increases occurred in all five RHAs (Regional Health Authorities). In VCH, FHA and IHA and VIHA the proportion of claims for influenza are above the historical maximum.
  
• In week 40 the lab tested 998 respiratory specimens, 353 (35.2%) tested positive for influenza A (including H1N1), a sharp increase compared to the previous week. Of those subtyped (n=352), 100% were H1N1. Since week 35 (September 1, 2009), >99% of all subtyped influenza A viruses (n=523) have been pH1N1. No influenza B was detected during week 40.
  
• In week 40, the number of school outbreaks remained high, seventeen were reported (4 in FHA, 9 in IHA, 1 in VCH, and 3 in VIHA).