Pandemic 2009 (A)H1N1 influenza (swine flu) — the Manitoba experienceThis paper is one of a selection of papers published in this special issue entitled “Second International Symposium on Recent Advances in Basic, Clinical, and Social Medicine” and has undergone the Journal's usual peer review process.

Abstract

The pattern of illness associated with the first wave of the pandemic influenza A H1N1 (swine flu) in the spring and early summer of 2009 in regions of the province of Manitoba in Canada was more severe, on a population basis, than any other northern hemisphere jurisdiction outside of Mexico City. Manitoba accounted for 50% of intensive care admissions and 25% of pediatric admissions, but only 6.5% of deaths, attributable to the virus in Canada during the first wave. Activation and use of emergency response protocols embedded within the routine health authority management system and good communication between the diagnostic laboratory, public health, and health care practitioners was effective in coping with the sudden need for hospitalization of large numbers of children and young adults with severe respiratory illness over a short time period. Early treatment with oseltamivir was associated with a shorter duration of hospitalization among children. Intensive education of health care providers, patients, and visitors, along with close monitoring of infection prevention and control practices, were instrumental in preventing both nosocomial and health care worker infections.