Abstract
Swine flu is a type of influenza-like acute respiratory illness by Influenza A H1N1 virus. In many of cases swine flu can lead to serious complications like bilateral pneumonia, sepsis, acute kidney injuries especially in patients with co-morbidities that may require intensive care support. This was a hospital based retrospective study in which demographic and clinical data of all the suspected patients of ILI-C category admitted in isolation wards and ICU was obtained and analyzed. All admitted patients were tested by real time PCR for H1N1. Total 523 suspected cases for swine flu were admitted in isolation wards and ICU, out of them 267 (51.05%) were found positive and a total of 62 (23.22%) expired. Majority of suspected patients (n=81, 27.74%) admitted in isolation were belonged to age group of 31-45 years and those suspected patients (n=71, 30.74%) admitted in the ICU were in age group of 46-60 years. Many of suspected patients (n=168, 57.53%) admitted in isolation and ICU were female (n=129, 55.84%). Majority of patients admitted in isolation and ICU belonged to rural population i.e. (n=181, 61.99%) and (n=165, 71.43%) respectively. Mortality rate in ICU was 43.65% which was higher than in isolation ward (4.96%). Mortality rate among swine flu positive patients on ventilator support in ICU (n=45, 86.54%) was higher than patients not requiring mechanical ventilation (13.51%). Survival rate in patients not put on ventilator (86.49%) was significantly higher than patients on mechanical ventilation (56.35%). In conclusion, females and rural population are at risk for high mortality due to swine flu. This study will help to determine the requirement of ICU support in the population so that healthcare system can prepare at the time of future outbreaks of swine flu.