A winter/spring of 2010 outbreak would seriously strain antiviral stockpiles if a more severe / fatal H1N1 was in circulation, especially if it had H274Y. More severe cases would also strain health care delivery because these cases require ventilators and ECMO machines which are in limited supply, as are ICU beds.
Thus, a sharp increase in severe cases would significantly impact health care delivery and create more dire situations than were seen in the fall. These issues would be exacerbated by a public that was told that the pandemic was mild, over, or an epidemic. A realization that this information was false could create additional problems.
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