Bacterial Infections Common Among H1N1 Flu Deaths, CDC Says

Most people who have died while infected with the H1N1 influenza virus also carried a type of bacterial infection that likely played a part in their death, a new federal government study has found.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked at tissue samples from 77 people who died from the so-called swine flu between May and August. They found that 22 of them, nearly one in three, had a form of bacterial co-infection and 10 of the victims had the same strain of Streptococcus pneumoniae, or pneumococcus.

Other types of bacterial infections detected in the study of H1N1 victims included Staphylococcus aureus (7 cases), Streptococcus pyogenes (6 cases), Streptococcus mitis (2 cases) and Haemophilus influenza (1 case). In four of the cases, researchers detected more than one form of bacterial infection, the CDC said.

Among the dead, the H1N1 illness lasted between one and 25 days, with an average duration of six days, the CDC said, according to a Reuters News report.

Health officials have said the very young and very old are most at risk of developing severe symptoms from H1N1 infection, and the CDC study findings bore that out. The 22 people deceased victims studied ranged in age from two months to 56 years old, with an equal number of men and women. The cases studied were reported in eight states, including California, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Utah, and Virginia, the CDC said.

Bacterial infections have played a role in previous outbreaks of novel influenza viruses, health officials said. In previous pandemics reported in 1918, 1957, and 1968, many of those killed also were infected with S. pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Staphylococcus aureus and group A Streptococcus, which causes rheumatic fever and “strep throat,” the CDC said.

Push for Vaccinations is On

Vaccinations will be a key to controlling the spread of H1N1 virus this fall, health officials said. For example, the CDC recommends that children younger than 5 years be given a pneumococcal conjugate vaccination. In addition, the PPSV23 vaccine should be administered to everyone 2 to 64 years old who’s considered to be at high risk, and to all people 65 and older.

The CDC recently said the following groups of people also should get vaccinated for H1N1:

• Pregnant women because they are at higher risk of complications and can potentially provide protection to infants who cannot be vaccinated;

• Household contacts and caregivers for children younger than 6 months of age because younger infants are at higher risk of influenza-related complications and cannot be vaccinated. Vaccination of those in close contact with infants younger than 6 months old might help protect infants by “cocooning” them from the virus;

• Healthcare and emergency medical services personnel because infections among healthcare workers have been reported and this can be a potential source of infection for vulnerable patients. Also, increased absenteeism in this population could reduce healthcare system capacity;

• All people from 6 months through 24 years of age

• Children from 6 months through 18 years of age because cases of 2009 H1N1 influenza have been seen in children who are in close contact with each other in school and day care settings, which increases the likelihood of disease spread, and

• Young adults 19 through 24 years of age because many cases of 2009 H1N1 influenza have been seen in these healthy young adults and they often live, work, and study in close proximity, and they are a frequently mobile population; and,

• Persons aged 25 through 64 years who have health conditions associated with higher risk of medical complications from influenza.

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