Intensive care bed crisis feared due to increased swine flu cases in UK children
December 2009
Even as the Department of Health figures show a sharp fall in number of new cases in youngsters, warning comes from the academics.
According to medical researchers, UK may run out of intensive care beds for children if there is a big surge in swine flu admissions in winter.
Department of Health today reveals its latest weekly review of critical care provision in the NHS for swine flu cases as a stark warning comes from Cambridge academics. Sir Liam Donaldson, the chief medical officer, provided figures which shows reduction in the percentage of children with swine flu occupying paediatric intensive care beds in England.
The pattern of H1N1 pandemic infections is proved to be unpredictable. Death rates are far lower than initially expected, with most victims young rather than old and the vaccination programme already beginning to protect many of the most vulnerable.
A sharp fall in the number of new cases last week may represent a temporary easing of the disease attributable to the school half-term break or the warm weather
The Cambridge research, published in the medical journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, warns that “paediatric critical care provision may prove to be inadequate”. It says routine operations may have to be cancelled and adult intensive care beds given over to children.
Dr Ari Ercole and Dr D O’Donnell led a research at Addenbrooke’s hospital, which says that a model is developed by the US Centres for Disease Control to predict likely demand for critical care. Their work is based on the UK’s current level of provision: 303 intensive care beds for children spread over 25 regional centres.
