According to Dr GC Khilnani, Chairman, PSRI Institute of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, the current H1N1 virus is known to cause relatively short-lived illness in healthy individuals, but the risk can be considerably higher among vulnerable groups. “It’s self-limiting. It does not cause many consequences. However, the susceptible people, like those who are 70-80 years plus or those who have got diabetes or those who have got chronic lung disease or they are immunocompromised because of taking long-term steroids, or they are on cancer treatment and other immunosuppressed states, these are the people who get serious illness with this virus, and they get into the ICU also,” he said. “Currently, we also have patients on ventilators because of this,” Dr. Khilnani added.
