Clinical features of a Dutch cohort of critically ill children due to the 2009 new influenza A H1N1 pandemic

Abstract

Objective: This study describes the clinical course, treatment, and outcome of 13 critically ill children due to infection with new influenza A H1N1, admitted to 2 pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) in the northwestern part of the Netherlands.

Methods: Retrospective case series, conducted in 2 PICUs in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Results: A total of 13 children with a new influenza A H1N1 infection were admitted at 2 Dutch PICUs. The majority of these children were 12 to 16 years old and had an underlying disease. All children required mechanical ventilatory support. Shock was present in 7 of 13 (54%) children. Two children were transferred to a supraregional PICU with facilities for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Conclusions: In a Dutch cohort of 13 critically ill children due to infection with new influenza (H1N1), respiratory (100%) and circulatory (54%) failure characterized the course of this infection in most of these children. All children survived.