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Commentary
H1N1
Death Cluster In Liverpool Increases Concerns
Recombinomics
Commentary 18:35
January 4, 2011
Shocked friends set up a Facebook page paying tribute to the teen, nicknamed 'Livvy', who was a student at Wallasey School’s sixth form.
Her family were too devastated to comment.
It is understood the 17-year-old is the sixth person from Merseyside to lose her fight against the illness.
The above comments describe another death cluster in England. This cluster in the Liverpool area is near the death cluster of 12 described for the Manchester area. These 18 fatalities make up a large portion of the initial 36 confirmed H1N1 deaths reported in the week 52 HPA report. However, media reports describe almost 60 deaths, and the actual number of known deaths is undoubtedly considerably higher.
The severe and fatal cases have put significant pressure on ICU’s with many hospitals on red or black alerts and the situation is expected to deteriorate in upcoming days because of a post-holiday return to schools and workplaces. ECMO usage is at 100% and health care delivery is stretched to the limit.
Media reports indicate pressure is mounting in city to the south of Liverpool and Manchester, including London. Similarly, other countries, including Egypt and Israel are reporting sharp increases in H1N1 cases, suggesting a new wave of infections is beginning across the northern hemisphere.
There have already been reports of vaccine breakthroughs in the UK, Sweden, and Spain suggesting that those infected last season are vulnerable to the emerging sub-clade creating a crisis in the UK.
Release of December sequences from severe and fatal cases would be useful.
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