How is H1N1 different from seasonal flu?
H1N1 is a young person’s disease, while the seasonal flu is a disease of the elderly. More than half of the people hospitalized with H1N1 flu have been younger than 25, and 95 percent of the deaths have been in patients younger than 65. That is the opposite of seasonal flu, in which 90 percent of the deaths occur in people 65 or older. The swine flu virus can go right to the lungs and cause viral pneumonia, whereas the seasonal flu takes time to plow through the throat and upper respiratory system, says virologist Gary Munk of Hackensack University Medical Center. Swine flu deaths are almost always due to respiratory failure. H1N1 does not always cause a high temperature, a hallmark of the seasonal flu. It also appears to be causing more gastro-intestinal symptoms than the seasonal flu, especially among children. Reasons for Concern: It can progress rapidly — with the patient going from having no symptoms to being in severe distress in a day – and is particularly dangerous for people
