Nearly 10,000 dead of H1N1 in USA

Nearly 10,000 dead of H1N1 in USA with the worst of the flu season yet to come!

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20091211/ARTICLE/912111047

1 in 6 in the U.S. have had swine flu

By THOMAS H. MAUGH II Los Angeles Times

Published: Friday, December 11, 2009 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 9:33 p.m.

At least 50 million Americans contracted pandemic H1N1 influenza through Nov. 14, according to the newest estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Thursday -- meaning about 15 percent of the country has been infected, about 1 in 6 people.
"That still leaves most people not having been infected and still susceptible."
-- Dr. Thomas R. Frieden,
director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

"That still leaves most people not having been infected and still susceptible," CDC director Dr. Thomas R. Frieden said at a news conference. The agency also reported that more than 200,000 people had been hospitalized and nearly 10,000 had died.

Estimates released about a month ago showed 22 million Americans had been infected and 3,900 had died. But that does not mean that 6,000 people died in the intervening month, Frieden said; delays in reporting account for some of that increase. Frieden said the 200,000 hospitalizations since the beginning of the pandemic seven months ago is about the same as in a usual flu season. The deaths are lower than the 35,000 normally associated with seasonal flu in a typical year, but the breakdown of those who died is sharply different.

The 10,000 deaths include 1,100 children and 7,500 younger adults. The figures "are much higher than in a usual flu season," he said. In a normal flu season, about 1,000 deaths occur among Americans younger than 50. "But a large proportion of the 7,500 adults" -- who died -- "are under 50," he said. Hospitalizations among the younger group are also several times higher than normal.

The estimates are compiled from both the number of laboratory-confirmed cases and from cases that may be listed on death certificates as pneumonia, organ failure or other infections, but which were precipitated by flu.

For the estimates, researchers use data from 62 counties in 10 states, including deaths outside hospitalizations in which laboratory confirmation did not occur; a fraction of deaths in which lab tests were negative (the tests give as many as 40 percent false negatives); and a variety of other data.

Swine flu vaccine supplies continue to grow, Frieden said. There are now 85 million doses available, up by 12 million from last week. He recommended that people get the vaccine because of uncertainties about whether a new wave of swine flu will come after the first of the year.

"What will happen in the future, only the future will tell," he said.

**Unfortunately, I have seen articles where people have gotten this virus twice. 2 different doctors. I have seen articles of people being infected after getthing the vaccine. Each flu season there is a new vaccine for a reason. It is because flu's change each year. The first vaccine, whether it worked or not, cannot keep up with these mutations to protect you fully. Be careful out there folks, just in case**