Clinical epidemiology comparison of H1N1 RT-PCR-positive and RT-PCR-negative pneumonia during the 2009-2010 pandemic in Mansoura University hospitals, Egypt.

Background: Worldwide, the infectivity and disease burden of the H1N1 pandemic were overestimated because of limited clinical experience concerning patient presentation and outcome of those infected with the novel H1N1 virus.

Objective: This study aimed to compare the epidemiologic clinical data among H1N1 RT-PCR-positive and RT-PCR-negative pneumonic patients during the 2009-2010 pandemic in Mansoura University Hospitals, Egypt.

Methods: A record-based, case-control study was conducted for 43 adult patients admitted to the chest department isolation unit with community-acquired pneumonia during the 2009-2010 H1N1 pandemic after reviewing of 198 suspected and confirmed H1N1 hospitalized cases.