# 3311
While the vast majority of people who have contracted the novel H1N1 virus appear to endure relatively mild symptoms, not everyone gets off easy with this new influenza.
Swine flu, like any flu, can produce severe, even life-threatening illness. And this flu has, thus far, hit young adults and children harder than seasonal flu.
In Manitoba, Canada there are 26 flu victims on ventilators, half of them young members of the aboriginal community.
This time of year, in the northern hemisphere, it is pretty uncommon to see any flu victims on ventilators.
Manitoba’s Chief Medical Officer of Health describes this late season outbreak as being `more severe than what we would expect to see or what we have seen with typical seasonal influenza in the past.’
Severe flu cases surge in Manitoba aboriginal community
Last Updated: Monday, June 8, 2009 | 4:05 PM CT
The Manitoba government is reporting a surge in the number of people requiring intensive care for influenza-like illnesses, particularly among a relatively young aboriginal population.
The vast majority of people reporting flu-like illnesses this spring are experiencing relatively mild cases and have not required hospitalization, Manitoba's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Joel Kettner, said at a press conference Monday afternoon.
'It's important to recognize that what we have observed is really more severe than what we would expect to see or what we have seen with typical seasonal influenza in the past.'—Dr. Joel Kettner, Manitoba's chief medical officer of health
However, there has been "an increased concentration of severe respiratory illness admitted to the intensive care units, which is higher in number than previous influenza outbreaks," officials with Manitoba Health and Healthy Living stated at the press conference.
As of Sunday night, 26 people were in the intensive care units on ventilators for flu-related reasons. It is expected many of them will be confirmed as cases of swine flu, or the H1N1 influenza A virus, officials said, noting more than half of the people are of aboriginal descent with an average age of 35, said Kettner.
