The Burden and Severity of Illness due to 2009 Pandemic Influenza A

The authors of this study evaluated the burden of the pandemic H1N1 outbreak in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia, in the fall of 2009, when there was a second wave of increased influenza activity in the United States. They used data from a community survey, existing surveillance systems, public health laboratories, and local hospitals to estimate numbers of pandemic H1N1-associated illnesses, emergency department visits, hospitalizations, intensive care unit admissions, and deaths. More specifically, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 122 Cities Mortality Reporting System surveillance was used to estimate deaths due to pandemic H1N1. The authors estimated 63 adult and four pediatric pandemic H1N1-associated deaths in metro-Atlanta during the investigation time frame.