Pneumonia and Respiratory Failure from Swine-Origin Influenza A (H1N1) in Mexico

In late March 2009, an outbreak of a respiratory illness later proved to be caused by novel swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus (S-OIV) was identified in Mexico. We describe the clinical and epidemiologic characteristics of persons hospitalized for pneumonia at the national tertiary hospital for respiratory illnesses in Mexico City who had laboratory-confirmed S-OIV infection, also known as swine flu.

We used retrospective medical chart reviews to collect data on the hospitalized patients. S-OIV infection was confirmed in specimens with the use of a real-time reverse-transcriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction assay.