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# 4484
While the pandemic of 2009 could have been a lot worse, we are seeing evidence of its impact in new numbers released by the NHS in the United Kingdom.
Specifically, a 7-fold increase in flu-related hospitalization days over the previous year.
This from the Telegraph-UK.
Record number of patients in hospital with flu last year: official data
Seven times more hospital beds were filled with flu sufferers last year than in 2008 as England battled against swine flu, it has emerged.
By Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor
Published: 1:06PM BST 09 Apr 2010Figures from the NHS Information Centre revealed 33,376 bed days were taken up by people with flu as their main reason for admission, compared to 4,163 in 2008.
The rise was steepest later in the year, with the number of bed days rising to 20,744 between October and December compared to 1,585 in the same period in 2008.
This means the number of bed days was 13 times higher in 2009 than in 2008. ."
The assurances towards the end of this article by an NHS spokesperson that the NHS was `ready to cope with the increase in demand’ comes about only because the number of hospitalizations wasn’t much worse than it was.
Had the 2009 H1N1 virus been even slightly more virulent, the ability of health care systems to cope would have been severely tested.
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My thanks to my good friend Chacal who commented that 2008 was an exceptionally bad flu year in the UK . . . something that should be taken into account when comparing the pandemic of 2009 to the previous flu season.
Chacal wrote:
good article Mike, but also remember the 2008 winter was thought to be the worst in 7 years before H1N1 came along, and 2008 winter accounted for 35,000 excess deaths( up from the usual 10,000 excess deaths)
Chacal9:51 AM
the Guardian reported in December 2009:
Flu outbreak is worst for eight years
Sarah Boseley, health editor The Guardian, Wednesday 24 December 2008 Britain is in the grip of a flu outbreak greater than anything seen in the last eight years, with soaring numbers of people falling ill, new figures show.
The last big flu outbreak occurred in 1999/2000, when 22,000 people died, which is 10 times the average for a winter flu season.
The latest figures from the Royal College of GPs show 69 cases of flu in 100,000 population for this week. In the last two weeks, the rate has climbed steeply, from 28 in 100,000 two weeks ago, to 40 last week and now 69.
The rise is across all regions of the UK and all age groups, but it appears to be the young and middle-aged adults who are hit hardest. The rate has soared to 80 in 100,000 in the 15 to 44 age group and to 76 among 45 to 64-year-olds. These tend to be more socially active people - teenagers, young adults and workers who refuse to stay home when they feel ill.
And this chart from the UK Statistics website shows the relative increase in winter mortality in 2008.
