Different prognosis in hospitalized patients with influenza one season after the pandemic H1N1 influenza of 2009–2010 in Spain

Background The present report compares prognosis in hospitalized cases with the H1N1 pandemic virus in two seasons. Methods Two series of hospitalized patients with laboratory‐confirmed H1N1 pandemic influenza have been compared: 813 in the season 2009–2010 and 707 in the season 2010–2011. A detailed history of variables preceding hospital admission and during hospitalization was obtained by interview and clinical charts. A combined endpoint of death admission to intensive care was used as outcome due to the low number of deaths. Logistic regression was applied in the analysis for adverse outcome. Results Patients of the second season had different characteristics than in the first one (older, more underlying conditions, more malfunctioning organs and more symptoms). Patients with H1N1 pandemic virus when hospitalized were more frequently directly admitted to ICU during the 2010–2011 season than in the previous season (RR = 2·10; 95% confidence intervals CI, 1·55–2·85), as a consequence of a higher presence of sepsis and respiratory distress. These patients also showed during hospitalization a higher risk of ICU admission or death (RR = 3·22, 95% CI, 2·15–4·83). After adjusting for the differences in risk factors of adverse outcome, patients in the second season showed a higher risk of ICU admission and/or in‐hospital death odds ratio (OR = 3·77, 95% CI, 2·30–6·18). Conclusion Hospitalized patients with H1N1 pandemic influenza during the second season were more severely affected at hospital admission and showed a worse prognosis than in previous season, independently of the differences found at hospital admission.