Influenza infection is a latent public health problem, affecting millions of people throughout the world, which imposes high morbidity and economic burden on the region. In Argentina, influenza-associated mortality is estimated at 6/100 000 person-years, and is higher among men = 65 years old. The knowledge of the baseline characteristics and outcomes of hospitalized patients is crucial for public health officials planning interventions to address local outbreaks. Thus, in this retrospective, single-center study, performed in a highcomplexity university hospital, we aimed to analyze clinical characteristics, image findings, and laboratory variables of patients with laboratory-confirmed influenza requiring hospitalization in our hospital during 2019. Cases were confirmed by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. One hundred and forty-three patients with influenza were hospitalized during the study period; 141 (98.6%) were infected with influenza virus type A, including 88 (61.5%) with the H1N1 subtype. The median age was 71 years (IQR 60- 82), 111 (77.6%) were older than 70 years, and 126 (88.1%) had at least one coexisting illness; 56 (39.1%) patients required intensive care unit, 16 (11.1%) invasive mechanical ventilation, and 6 (4.1%) died during hospitalization. In this study, in-hospital mortality was similar to that reported in previous series of non-pandemic influenza, even though the majority of the cases in this study were older than 70 years and had at least one coexisting illness.
【저자키워드】 Critical care, Hospitalization, Human, South America, Artificial respiration, influenza., Argentina,