Canada : H1N1 deaths, ICU admissions in 2nd wave proportionally less than 1st wave: study

Via The Canadian Press :

" TORONTO : As Canadians start rolling up their sleeves for this year's flu shot, researchers are rolling out a new analysis of last year's flu season.

The study published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal compares the first and second waves of the H1N1 pandemic, which initially hit Canada in April 2009.

In the second wave, which began Aug. 30, 2009, there were 4.8 times more hospital admissions, four times more admissions to intensive-care units and 4.6 times more deaths.

But ICU admissions and deaths as a proportion of hospital admissions fell in the second wave, even though patients admitted to hospital were older and more of them had underlying conditions.

There was a 16 per cent proportional decline in ICU admissions and a six per cent proportional decline in deaths compared with the first wave, the study found.

The analysis also revealed that the impact on aboriginal populations and pregnant women was much less in the second wave, said Dr. John Spika, director general of the Centre for Immunization and Respiratory Infectious Diseases at the Public Health Agency of Canada."