ATLANTA, Ga. — The Centers for Disease Control issued a warning Nov. 25 that catching the H1N1 virus can put patients at risk, not only of developing complications, but also serious bacterial pneumonia.
Influenza infections can reduce the lining of the respiratory tract and set a person up for pneumonia. Common bacteria like pneumoccocus that live in the nose and throat can invade the lungs when there’s a viral infection like influenza.
As H1N1 cases are rising, so are bacterial pneumonia cases, health officials are finding.
They’re seeing an increase in flu complications leading to pneumonia. At the same time, the flu is at record levels because of the pandemic H1N1 virus.
The number of cases is outpacing the typical number of regular flu cases at this time of year. Cases of regular flu usually peak between December and May.
“We’re seeing an increase in serious pneumococcal infectious around the country,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We have seen this increase in what’s called invasive pneumococcal disease. That’s the serious type of pneumococcal disease where the bacteria invades the blood or other internal sites,” she added.
The CDC tracks pneumococcal infections with help from 10 state health departments.
For instance, Denver, Colorado, averages about 20 cases of pneumonia in October during a regular flu season, Schuchat said. But “in October 2009, they had nearly triple that number.”
The Denver area has seen 58 flu-related pneumonia cases, and at least two-thirds of those sickened were aged 20 to 60, she said.
Schuchat said the major warning sign of pneumonia is when a patient seems to be recovering from flu symptoms then suddenly gets worse.
“Having high fever and cough and feeling miserable, then starting to feel a bit better, then suddenly really taking a turn for the worse, that is an important warning sign. We can see that in children or in adults and it doesn’t necessary always mean bacterial pneumonia, but it very much can mean that,” Schuchat said.
CDC officials are urging high-risk adults to get vaccinations against both pneumonia and H1N1. Schuchat said the vaccine Pneumovax can prevent the serious bacterial infections. ??Smokers and people with diabetes; chronic heart, lung and liver disease; or HIV are considered high-risk. This year asthmatics and smokers were added to the list.
Only 25 percent of high-risk adults under age 65 have gotten a pneumonia vaccination, Schuchat said at a news briefing Nov. 25.
“It’s a vaccine you pretty much get once as an adult, not every year, the way the flu vaccine works.”
