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3 more fatalities reported since April to 42; officials urge diabetes patients to get vaccine
Kim Kozlowski / The Detroit News
Three more Michigan residents have died from swine flu, state officials said Monday, as they stressed people with diabetes should get the H1N1 vaccine.
The death toll since the virus broke out in April has climbed to 42, with white men ages 45-64 with an underlying health condition forming the average profile of the deceased.
The state did not report dates and locations of the deaths.
Diabetes was a health condition in nine of the 39 deaths the state has investigated.
"People with diabetes should get the vaccine as soon as it is available," said Gregory Holzman, the state's chief medical executive, who last week urged that asthmatics get vaccinated.
Holzman said the vaccine is scarce -- more than 1.5 million doses have been allocated to the state, which is what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the state would have by mid-October. But people, especially those with underlying conditions such as diabetes, should not stop trying to find the vaccine, either at their health provider's office or local health department.
"Each day more and more vaccine is coming in to the state," Holzman said. "We are telling people not to give up because it is important for them to get the vaccine for their health."
Though some states' are plateauing in H1N1 activity, the upper Midwest -- including Michigan -- is a hot spot for swine flu, according to Eden Wells, a state epidemiologist.
Last week, 38,158 cases of flu-like activity were reported across the state.
Since Sept. 1, 1,226 people have been hospitalized with flu-like symptoms -- a 35 percent increase over last week, when 801 cases were reported.
As of Monday, no schools were closed because of swine flu. So far, 559 schools have closed and reopened after swine flu closings.
http://detnews.com/article/20091117/LIFESTYLE03/911170332/State-H1N1-death-toll-rises
Kim Kozlowski / The Detroit News
Three more Michigan residents have died from swine flu, state officials said Monday, as they stressed people with diabetes should get the H1N1 vaccine.
The death toll since the virus broke out in April has climbed to 42, with white men ages 45-64 with an underlying health condition forming the average profile of the deceased.
The state did not report dates and locations of the deaths.
Diabetes was a health condition in nine of the 39 deaths the state has investigated.
"People with diabetes should get the vaccine as soon as it is available," said Gregory Holzman, the state's chief medical executive, who last week urged that asthmatics get vaccinated.
Holzman said the vaccine is scarce -- more than 1.5 million doses have been allocated to the state, which is what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the state would have by mid-October. But people, especially those with underlying conditions such as diabetes, should not stop trying to find the vaccine, either at their health provider's office or local health department.
"Each day more and more vaccine is coming in to the state," Holzman said. "We are telling people not to give up because it is important for them to get the vaccine for their health."
Though some states' are plateauing in H1N1 activity, the upper Midwest -- including Michigan -- is a hot spot for swine flu, according to Eden Wells, a state epidemiologist.
Last week, 38,158 cases of flu-like activity were reported across the state.
Since Sept. 1, 1,226 people have been hospitalized with flu-like symptoms -- a 35 percent increase over last week, when 801 cases were reported.
As of Monday, no schools were closed because of swine flu. So far, 559 schools have closed and reopened after swine flu closings.
http://detnews.com/article/20091117/LIFESTYLE03/911170332/State-H1N1-death-toll-rises