In accordance with other descriptive reports of pandemic influenza [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] , patients who tested positive for H1N1 infection, tended to be young (no patients >64 years old), obese (15 had BMI >30 kg/m 2 ), and in relatively good health (30% with no comorbid medical conditions). There were no pregnant patients in either group. Compared with other studies of pandemic influenza patients who required mechanical ventilation, SOFA scores (mean 8.3) were similar, although APACHE II (25 ± 9) scores were higher [5] [6] [7] [8] 14, 16, 17, 23] . The degree of respiratory compromise in our patients was more severe than other reports judging by the higher PEEP requirements and longer duration of mechanical ventilation, which was roughly double that reported in other studies [4] [5] [6] 8, 11, 13, 14, 16, 23] . Plateau pressures in these studies were not consistently reported. However, despite significantly longer ventilation duration and prolonged ICU and hospital stays, the mortality in our cohort was not higher than that seen in other studies, which ranged from 22-41% in patients who required mechanical ventilation [4] [5] [6] 8, 11, 13, 14, 16, 23] .