CHESTThought Leader BlogJanuary #pulmCC Twitter Chat: It’s that time of year: Influenza in the ICU

January #pulmCC Twitter Chat: It’s that time of year: Influenza in the ICU

January 8, 2019

Led by Margaret Pisani, MD, MS, FCCP

Join us Wednesday, January 16, at 7 pm Central/8 pm Eastern as we discuss another hot topic in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine: caring for critically ill patients with influenza.

Influenza occurs in seasonal outbreaks and is an acute respiratory illness caused by either influenza A or B viruses. Although often self-limited, influenza can be associated with increased morbidity and mortality in certain high-risk populations. While vaccination is one of the best methods for flu prevention, survey estimates that only 42% of the population gets vaccinated. Patients with severe influenza are frequently admitted to the ICU with respiratory failure, often with secondary infections, and occasionally with catastrophic and fatal outcomes.

For 2017 to 2018, the CDC estimates that 49,000,000 people had symptomatic illness from influenza, resulting in approximately 96,000 hospitalizations and 79,000 deaths. In this month’s timely Twitter chat, we will discuss aspects related to the critical care of patients with influenza.

Topics:

T1: What antiviral drugs will you give to patients diagnosed with influenza this season?

T2: What is the role of ECMO in critically ill patients with influenza?

T3: What is the role of corticosteroids in critically ill patients with influenza?

T4: What it the burden of influenza in your ICU in the 2018 to 2019 season to date?

CT: Any final thoughts about caring for critically ill patients with influenza?

Resources:

  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Influenza antiviral medications: summary for clinicians. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/antivirals/summary-clinicians.htm

  2. Ortiz JR, Neuzil KM, Shay DK, et al. The burden of influenza-associated critical illness hospitalizations. Crit Care Med. 2014;42(110): 2325-2332.

  3. Martin-Loeches I, Schultz MJ, Vincent JL, et al. Increased incidence of co-infection in critically ill patients with influenza. Intensive Care Med. 2017;43(1):48-58.

  4. Noel ZR, Bastin MLT, Montgomery AA, et al. Comparison of high-dose versus standard dose oseltamivir in critically ill patients with influenza. J of Int Care Med. 32(10):574-577.

  5. Sukhal S, Sethi J, Ganesh M, et al. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in severe influenza infection with respiratory failure: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Ann Card Anaesth. 2017;20(1):14-21.

  6. Uyeki TM. Influenza. Ann Intern Med. 2017;167(5):ITC33-ITC48.


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