Fatal swine influenza pneumonia during late pregnancy

Article Abstract:

Swine influenza infections, a disease primarily affecting hogs, is uncommon in humans and rarely causes death. Only 10 cases of United States civilians infected with the virus have been reported. This is the first report of swine influenza in pregnancy. A 32-year-old woman in her 36th week of pregnancy developed headache, fever, and muscle pain. She was admitted to the hospital for treatment of pneumonia. Antibiotic therapy was initiated, but breathing difficulties progressed to become respiratory distress. Although oxygen was administered, it did not increase oxygen in the blood. Since the fetus could be compromised by the lack of oxygen in the blood, labor was induced. A normal infant was delivered vaginally. The oxygen saturation in the blood continued to be inadequate in addition to a decline in blood pressure and heart rate. A week after admission to the hospital, the patient died. Although all the specimens cultured were initially negative, one specimen submitted two weeks prior to her death revealed swine influenza. The family reported that the patient had been exposed to swine when she attended a county fair four days before the symptoms appeared. The fair's veterinarian described an influenza-like illness among the swine. It is unclear whether pregnancy increases the risk of influenza pneumonia infections in women. It is suggested that pregnant women avoid contact with swine, particularly those having respiratory diseases. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Case studies, Infection, Causes of, Development and progression, Diseases, Communicable diseases, Respiratory tract infections, Lungs, Lung, Pneumonia, Pregnancy, Swine, Swine diseases, Swine influenza, Communicable diseases in pregnancy

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Respiratory syncytial virus infections on an adult medical ward

Article Abstract:

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes significant respiratory infections in children, but it has only recently been described in adults, most of whom have abnormal immune function, such as cancer or transplant patients, or those with AIDS. A cluster of 11 cases of RSV in adults over a seven-week period at one hospital is reported. Of these 11 patients, eight (73 percent) required mechanical ventilation or life support during their hospitalizations, and seven (64 percent) died. The degree to which the RSV infection contributed to these negative outcomes is unclear, because a number of the patients had other respiratory illnesses, such as lung cancer or other pneumonias. Some of these patients may have been exposed to RSV before they were hospitalized, but at least two did not develop their symptoms until they had been in the hospital for seven days, implying that their disease resulted from infection transmitted to them by someone, most likely a health care worker, in the hospital. Testing for RSV has not been done routinely in adults when looking for the source of respiratory infections, but the unexpectedly high rate of RSV infection found in this particular study suggest that clinicians should consider RSV and test for it, particularly in patients with impaired immune systems and unexplainable respiratory disease. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Demographic aspects, Respiratory syncytial virus, Virus diseases, Disease transmission, Nosocomial infections, Cross infection

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