This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Pneumococcal pneumonia hospitalizations affected by 2009 H1N1
Weinberger DM. J Infect Dis. 2011;doi:10.1093/infdis/jir749.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
The 2009 influenza A pandemic was associated with a significant increase in pneumococcal pneumonia hospitalizations in the United States and varied between age groups and states.
Results indicated a significant increase in pneumococcal hospitalizations from August to December 2009.
A team of researchers led by Daniel M. Weinberger, PhD, of the NIH, pooled weekly data on hospitalization rates from the US State Inpatient Databases of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project from 2003 to 2009. Pneumococcal pneumonia hospitalizations that occurred during the pandemic were then compared with the seasonal baseline number.
The most significant increase in pneumococcal hospitalizations occurred in patients aged 5 to 19 years (ratio=1.6; 95% CI, 1.4-1.7). The researchers observed a threefold increase in hospitalizations during the height of the pandemic that included the largest absolute increase observed among patients aged 40 to 64 years; no significant increase was observed in patients aged older than 65 years.
Similarities were found between geographical variations in the timing of excess pneumococcal hospitalizations and geographical patterns for the fall pandemic influenza wave.
“This study confirms that influenza causes substantial increases in bacterial pneumonia,” Weinberger told Infectious Disease News. “Even so, influenza accounts for a relatively small percent of all pneumococcal pneumonia hospitalizations. Further research is needed to understand other important risk factors.”
Disclosure: The MISMS study is funded by the International Influenza Unit, Office of Global Affairs, Department of Health and Human Services.
 |
Follow InfectiousDiseaseNews.com on Twitter. |