H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine and Death Update As of November 2, 2009
The Centers for Disease Control reports that essentially all individuals in North America exhibiting flu symptoms have tested positive for the 2009 H1N1 swine flu. This confirms previous statements of health officials that the seasonal influenza has yet to strike the population yet and that anyone with flu symptoms is almost sure to have the H1N1 swine flu. Last week’s surge of 19 child deaths from the H1N1 swine flu was the most child deaths from the H1N1 swine flu in a single week since the epidemic began in April. Worldwide, the World Health Organization reports over 5,000 deaths from the H1N1 swine flu, but the vast majority of these deaths were in North America (i.e. the United States, Canada and Mexico). While during the summer months the H1N1 swine flu had been most prevalent in South America, with the beginning of school in the United States, the United States has experienced the most cases of the H1N1 swine flu, with over 5.3 million Americans estimated to have thus far contracted the H1N1 swine flu. While most people experience only mild flu symptoms, young people are being hit the hardest and represent the greatest number of people needing to be hospitalized or developing severe complications. On October 30, Dr. Thomas Frieden, Director of the Centers for Disease Control, indicated that the number of child deaths in the U.S. now stands at 114 and is sure to sharply rise in the coming weeks. In this regard, the CDC has announced that Young people 25 and under represent more half of all hospitalizations and almost 25 percent of the deaths from the H1N1 swine flu thus far. Unfortunately, Dr. Frieden also announced that the last 234,000 doses of liquid Tamiflu were being released and distributed from the national stockpile. Tamiflu is an antiviral medicine which, if given at the first sign of flu symptoms, can greatly reduce the severity of the H1N1 swine flu. Young people, however, cannot take the capsule form that adults can take and can only take the liquid form. As such, there is a concern about how to treat young people that develop H1N1 swine flu symptoms once these last doses of liquid Tamiflu are used up. On a world-wide basis, the World Health Organization has reported that Iceland and Sudan experienced their first deaths from the H1N1 swine flu this past week while Great Britain continues to be hard hit.
