How H1N1 Can Kill

(CBS)  Federal officials said a vaccine to help prevent the new flu is expected to be ready by mid to late October. But still some people are wondering how you can actually die from the H1N1 virus.

CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton sat down with Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith and took a closer look at what happens to the body.

Germs are everywhere - in our homes, offices, and schools. While some are harmless, others can be deadly, like the H1N1 virus or swine flu.

It spreads when a carrier coughs or sneezes; another person touches the object or surface with the flu virus on it and then touches his own nose or mouth.

The virus is inhaled by the body and goes straight to the lungs. The virus attaches to the lung cells, infecting the body. Over the course of days, the blood vessels in the lungs or the air sacs are damaged. Fluid leaks from the blood vessels into the air sacs of the lungs. While some air sacs fill with fluid, others collapse altogether. When the air sacs collapse, the lungs can no longer inflate as they normally would with oxygen. The lungs become stiff.

Without air entering the lungs, the amount of oxygen in the blood drops. If diagnosed early, some patients will get extra oxygen supplied by a breathing machine; others may fall into a coma. Patients die from H1N1 because their lungs give out via lack of oxygen or drowned by fluids.

At this time, 50 percent of H1N1 deaths are due to viral pneumonia and half the fatalities have been in people with pre-existing medical conditions like obesity, diabetes, and pregnancy.

An animation was shown that demonstrated the affects of ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome).

"Is that flu or is that pneumonia?" Smith asked after viewing the animation.

"Well, what that described is a situation we referred to as ARDS where the lungs literally become like sponges and can't exchange oxygen. That can happen with the viral pneumonia, a bacterial pneumonia, but half of the deaths due to H1N1 have been due to this viral pneumonia leading to that kind of pulmonary failure," Ashton explained.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported to Ashton that it has studied the autopsy results of the people who have succumbed to the H1N1 virus, and found that about half of the cases are in people who were either obese, had diabetes, or were pregnant and suppressed their immune system.

"So they were at a higher risk going into this virus, which, again, we have to emphasize in most cases have been mild, but they were at higher risk going into severe complications that then led to their death," she added.

According to Ashton, there's a "variable time course," where sometimes it happens over hours, days, or weeks. But Ashton stressed that once ARDS sets into the lungs and the patient is put on a ventilator, multiple organ systems then begin to fail and the mortality rate can be as high as 30 percent to 50 percent.

[mitziholt]

I wish I had seen the graphic report mentioned on this site. I was researching the effects of H1N1 and pneumonia at this time because my beloved husband is on life support right now with it. If I had known it was this deadly and horrible, I would have dragged both of us to the nearest source and quickly rolled up my sleeve. I spent 48 hours holding him as he coughed up blood into a cup while he tried desparately to suck in oxygen through a mask. The last words he managed to gasp out to me were, "I . . . love . . .you!" My heart is aching from the last look in his eyes. I saw fear and helplessness. He has been in a coma for 2 weeks now. I caught it and survived. I am grateful for every day that he makes it through.
Please . . .get the shot. Count your blessings that it's avaiable to you. Many places are giving it out free. Just visualize the person you love the most looking up at you like this as they spit blood into a cup and struggle for one whole breath. Flu season didn't end at the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve. It's here now and it's devastating.
Just get the shot!
Mitzi and her dear husband Hank

[messy206]

**** this ****... the only people who are going to die from this disease are people without health insurance. which i don't even have. but i think it's retarded that they're making it seem like a big plague among people.

i recently heard that thousands of wsu students got the disease through beer pong and NONE OF THEM DIED. however the ones who have died are the ones who most likely do not have health insurance.

this country has a big problem with money... it has become most important, if u wanna eat clean food u gotta go "organic" which is expensive and sometimes misleading in order to get "MORE MONEY/PROFIT"

and **** all..... the main point..... the health industry. in other countries u can get universal healthcare which is a great thing. but in "GOD BLESS AMERICA" if ur in a car accident that wasn't even ur fault then u better be payin like 200 a month for ur health insurance or else its "u don't got money?...... well we can save ur arm for like $120,000 but if u don't got me my money i'm finna cut ur **** off" true story.. luckily my homie's parents got health insurance so he kept his arm, but he talked to foo's who had their **** cut off cuz their broke. that's not how it should be. the government should fight for ur arms and legs. but they don't because they love money and people are purely second hand. they remain quote "BLISSFULY" unquote ignorant in an eternal ignorance of ipods and ass warmers and NOONE SAYS ****.

something has got to happen sooner or later.... btw **** the news they're all fulla ****

[linka10]

I almost died twice while laying in ICU fighting for my life on 100% oxygen support and on roto-prone bed for 15+ days. I did have insurance thankfully. People WILL die because hospitals do NOT take flu symptoms seriously when people arrive to ER. They send them home with 102.6 fevers + Pneumonia. That's what happenned to me! Husband dragged me to nearest ER for 2 consequtive days in a row. Both days they sent me home! I told them I'd been sick for 10+ days. no antibiotic (presrcibed by my physician, no other over the counter meds were helping at all). I had all symptoms for H1N1. They did a swab test (came back negative) they said "oh, you have Pneumonia, go home!" Where everywhere people were dying from H1N1, they did not even bother to call in infection specialist, did not do more advanced tests on me sent me home to DIE

[WolfPackMom]

I would like to thank CBS for this special report. I appreciate their honesty in laying out all of the information and the facts so the public can be more informed. I agree that we should not be scaring people, however, I also think the public needs to be aware of what could happen. Being informed that this is a very serious condition may make some take precautions that they wouldn't have taken before, or go to the doctor earlier if they get sick. I am a perfect example. I contracted H1N1 and I spent 2 weeks in the hospital, most of them on a ventilator in ICU fighting for my life. The doctors were stunned because until then I was a 41 year old non smoking female that rarely got sick except for the occasionally seasonal cold, sinus infection, or tummy ache.

I know others who have had the H1N1 virus who just got severe flu like symptoms and recovered fine without ever getting the severe pneumonia with it. So for most healthy people this isn't a huge issue. However, for those like myself who may be at risk for some reason or the other this report is worth its weight in gold.

[626615]

As a Nurse, I was appalled at your graphic discussion as to how you would die from H1N1. Do you really think that the lay person needs to see their lungs fill with fluid or turn bloody? Do you feel this is helpful to Hospital nurses and doctors who are trying to calmly care for these patients. I have seen many cases of H1N1 where the patient has recovered just fine. Why do you feel you need to use terroristic methods to report the news. Prevention is where you should be concentrating. I watch the early show daily and this was a disgrace.