Emergency department (ED) presentation of pediatric pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1) infection is not well characterized. Our objective was to describe the clinical manifestations of pH1N1 in the pediatric ED. We also compared these characteristics to seasonal influenza A, and explored risk factors for pH1N1 hospitalization.
We conducted a retrospective cohort study at a pediatric hospital in Quebec City, Canada. Subjects were ED patients aged 0 to 17 years with laboratory-confirmed pH1N1 (April-July 2009) or seasonal influenza A (June 2006-March 2009). Clinical and laboratory data were analyzed by univariate and multivariate log-binomial regression.
A total of 127 pH1N1 cases and 110 seasonal influenza cases were identified. pH1N1 patients were older (9.5 vs. 5.6 years; P