Severe H1N1 strikes lungs WHO director-general also says virus travels at 'unbelievable' speed

		The world's top health official said in an interview that appeared on Saturday that H1N1 spreads four times faster than other viruses and 40 per cent of the fatalities are young adults in good health. -- PHOTO: AFP

WASHINGTON - DOCTORS are reporting a severe form of the Influenza A (H1N1) that goes straight to the lungs, causing severe illness in otherwise healthy young people and requiring expensive hospital treatment, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.

Some countries are reporting that as many as 15 per cent of patients hospitalised with the H1N1 pandemic virus need intensive care, further straining already overburdened health-care systems, it said on Friday in an update on the pandemic.

'During the winter season in the Southern Hemisphere, several countries have viewed the need for intensive care as the greatest burden on health services,' it said. 'Preparedness measures need to anticipate this increased demand on intensive care units, which could be overwhelmed by a sudden surge in the number of severe cases.'

Meanwhile, the world's top health official said in an interview that appeared on Saturday that H1N1 spreads four times faster than other viruses and 40 per cent of the fatalities are young adults in good health.

'This virus travels at an unbelievable, almost unheard of speed,' World Health Organisation director-general Margaret Chan told France's Le Monde daily in an interview. 'In six weeks, it travels the same distance that other viruses take six months to cover.

'Sixty per cent of the deaths cover those who have underlying health problems. This means that 40 per cent of the fatalities concern young adults - in good health - who die of a viral fever in five to seven days. This is the most worrying fact.'

She added that 'up to 30 per cent of people in densely populated countries risked getting infected'.

More than 2,180 people around the world have died from the virus since it was uncovered in April.

'Perhaps most significantly, clinicians from around the world are reporting a very severe form of disease, also in young and otherwise healthy people, which is rarely seen during seasonal influenza infections,' WHO said.

'In these patients, the virus directly infects the lung, causing severe respiratory failure. Saving these lives depends on highly specialised and demanding care in intensive care units, usually with long and costly stays.' -- REUTERS, AFP

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