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. 2002 Jun;8(6):569-74.
doi: 10.3201/eid0806.010370.

Medical care capacity for influenza outbreaks, Los Angeles

Carol A Glaser  1 , Sabrina Gilliam, William W Thompson, David E Dassey, Stephen H Waterman, Mitchell Saruwatari, Stanley Shapiro, Keiji Fukuda
Affiliations

Medical care capacity for influenza outbreaks, Los Angeles

Carol A Glaser et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2002 Jun.

Abstract

In December 1997, media reported hospital overcrowding and "the worst [flu epidemic] in the past two decades" in Los Angeles County (LAC). We found that rates of pneumonia and influenza deaths, hospitalizations, and claims were substantially higher for the 1997-98 influenza season than the previous six seasons. Hours of emergency medical services (EMS) diversion (when emergency departments could not receive incoming patients) peaked during the influenza seasons studied; the number of EMS diversion hours per season also increased during the seasons 1993-94 to 1997-98, suggesting a decrease in medical care capacity during influenza seasons. Over the seven influenza seasons studied, the number of licensed beds decreased 12%, while the LAC population increased 5%. Our findings suggest that the capacity of health-care systems to handle patient visits during influenza seasons is diminishing.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Emergency department diversion hours, influenza hospitalizations, and detection peaks, Los Angeles County, April 1993–March 1998.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Number of licensed beds per 100,000 persons, Los Angeles County, 1991–1997.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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