Pandemic Planning and Response

To STUDENTS and those persons under 25:

H1N1 is not the typical seasonal flu, and you need to be vigilant with your health hygiene habits:

  • It has proved to be quite contagious and can spread rapidly among children/younger adults.
  • H1N1 is causing healthy young adults to become critically ill. Read these two articles.
  • The number of Pediatric H1N1 deaths has already surpassed the "normal" seasonal flu totals.
  • H1N1 infects young adults (that means you!) more readily than your parents or grandparents (see Figure 1).
  • Even within MN, most of the hospitalized cases are people under 25 (see Figure 2).
  • This is a novel form of flu -- you have not “seen” it before, and you are not immune!
  • There are now cases in which people are experiencing more severe lung infections -- H1N1 does this by attaching to cells deep within the lungs, something that the seasonal flu cannot do.
  • 40% of the deaths worldwide have been young adults and children who were in good health … this is in contrast to the seasonal flu in which 90% of the severe and fatal cases are people over 65.
  • Persons with certain medical conditions (asthma, diabetes, etc.) are more susceptible to contracting H1N1, and once infected these persons are less able to fight off additional infections.