Last season’s deadly swine flu has resurfaced in the U.K. this winter. The illness has caused at least 45 deaths as of Jan. 5, according to the U.K.’s Health Protection Agency (HPA).
However, the full extent of the disease’s grasp might be “grossly under-report[ed],” according to a commentary published Monday by Recombinomics, a website that closely tracks infectious diseases. According to the expert-driven site, many other deaths—presumed to be the common flu or pneumonia—might actually be undiagnosed cases of H1N1, or swine flu.
The HPA officially reports that there have been a total of 135 cases of H1N1 so far this season, including the 45 deaths. Some U.K. hospitals are reporting being overwhelmed by flu cases. In two hospitals in Worcestershire, alone there were 58 flu patients admitted as of Jan. 7, with 15 people in critical condition, reported the Worcestershire News.
However, according to Recombinomics, the HPA’s figures are not credible and are likely missing a host of people, mostly young people, who have fallen ill but not sought medical treatment because they assume that they have ordinary flu, a chest infection, or other non-life-threatening condition.
In one anecdotal case cited by Recombinomics, Keith Ingham, a 50-year-old man from Exeter, in southwest England, unexpectedly died in his car after complaining of a chest infection.
“We all spent a nice family Christmas together at my sister’s, and the last time we were all together was Boxing Day. I remember him saying he had flu-like symptoms, but he thought it was just a chest infection and didn’t bother going to the doctors,” his youngest daughter Kerry, 27, told This Is Devon newspaper.
An autopsy concluded, according to the paper, that he “died from natural causes. It is believed he was suffering from pneumonia.”
Recombinomics says the case is illustrative of a “classical H1N1 fatality involving an adult under 65 who develops flu-like symptoms followed by pneumonia and death.”
Currently, young people are filling up beds in ICU units.
The Guardian reported that the strain surfacing in England this year is similar to last year’s strain. This means, according to The Guardian story, that most seniors are protected because they took the vaccine last season, so the highest risk group is now younger people.
However, Recombinomics analysts warn that a new H1N1 could be emerging, one that will be “able to infect those who were vaccinated or infected last season.”
However, the full extent of the disease’s grasp might be “grossly under-report[ed],” according to a commentary published Monday by Recombinomics, a website that closely tracks infectious diseases. According to the expert-driven site, many other deaths—presumed to be the common flu or pneumonia—might actually be undiagnosed cases of H1N1, or swine flu.
The HPA officially reports that there have been a total of 135 cases of H1N1 so far this season, including the 45 deaths. Some U.K. hospitals are reporting being overwhelmed by flu cases. In two hospitals in Worcestershire, alone there were 58 flu patients admitted as of Jan. 7, with 15 people in critical condition, reported the Worcestershire News.
However, according to Recombinomics, the HPA’s figures are not credible and are likely missing a host of people, mostly young people, who have fallen ill but not sought medical treatment because they assume that they have ordinary flu, a chest infection, or other non-life-threatening condition.
In one anecdotal case cited by Recombinomics, Keith Ingham, a 50-year-old man from Exeter, in southwest England, unexpectedly died in his car after complaining of a chest infection.
“We all spent a nice family Christmas together at my sister’s, and the last time we were all together was Boxing Day. I remember him saying he had flu-like symptoms, but he thought it was just a chest infection and didn’t bother going to the doctors,” his youngest daughter Kerry, 27, told This Is Devon newspaper.
An autopsy concluded, according to the paper, that he “died from natural causes. It is believed he was suffering from pneumonia.”
Recombinomics says the case is illustrative of a “classical H1N1 fatality involving an adult under 65 who develops flu-like symptoms followed by pneumonia and death.”
Currently, young people are filling up beds in ICU units.
The Guardian reported that the strain surfacing in England this year is similar to last year’s strain. This means, according to The Guardian story, that most seniors are protected because they took the vaccine last season, so the highest risk group is now younger people.
However, Recombinomics analysts warn that a new H1N1 could be emerging, one that will be “able to infect those who were vaccinated or infected last season.”
