Clinical impact of influenza – lessons learnt from the pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009

Abstract

Influenza is generally an acute, self-limiting, febrile illness without further complications in the majority of people. However, it can be associated with severe morbidity and mortality and the burden of the disease on society is likely to be underestimated. In 2009 an outbreak of H1N1 influenza A virus infection was detected in Mexico with further cases soon observed worldwide. Subsequently, in June 2009, the first influenza pandemic of the 21st century due to influenza A (H1N1) was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO). There were many uncertainties regarding the virulence, clinical symptoms and epidemiological features of this newly evolved influenza A strain. Over time, many similarities, but also some differences between the pandemic H1N1 influenza A and seasonal influenza were identified. We recently performed a systematic review of the literature, looking at articles published between 1 April 2009 and 31 January 2010, to identify the epidemiological and clinical features of the pandemic H1N1 influenza. In this current article we compare our findings with others from the international literature. There was more severe impact on young and healthy adults, children, pregnant women and the obese. Clinical features in general were similar between seasonal and pandemic influenza; however, there were more gastrointestinal symptoms associated with pandemic H1N1 influenza. Shortness of breath was characteristic of more severe pH1N1 2009 infection with a higher possibility of being admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU).