sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
By Tom Randall
Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Swine flu cases in the U.S. are rising at the fastest pace for influenza in four decades, infecting 22 million people and killing 3,900 in the first six months of the pandemic, according to revised estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The death total is about a fourfold increase from previous tallies and the first specific estimate of total swine flu infections. U.S. health authorities are seeking a more accurate model to analyze the effects of the pandemic flu, also known as H1N1, Anne Schuchat, director of the Atlanta-based CDC’s Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said today.
Swine flu, first reported in April, is spreading at unprecedented rates for this time of year, Schuchat said. The disease puts young people, pregnant women and those with health conditions such as asthma and diabetes at greatest risk, with about 90 percent of the deaths of people younger than 64. Supply of the vaccine to prevent the disease has fallen far short of heath authorities estimates.
The previous reporting system was “potentially giving an incomplete story of the pandemic,” Schuchat said in a conference call with reporters. “What we’re really trying to do is give a bigger picture.”
New Estimate
The toll published by the CDC before today was based on confirmed cases in 10 states, while the new numbers extrapolate nationwide tallies from the same surveillance system. The estimates will be updated every three to four weeks and don’t include infections since Oct. 17, when swine flu has circulated at its highest rate, Schuchat said.
“We don’t think things have changed from last week to this week,” Schuchat said of the disease.
more.....
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aeE_7PAb6.Kw
Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Swine flu cases in the U.S. are rising at the fastest pace for influenza in four decades, infecting 22 million people and killing 3,900 in the first six months of the pandemic, according to revised estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The death total is about a fourfold increase from previous tallies and the first specific estimate of total swine flu infections. U.S. health authorities are seeking a more accurate model to analyze the effects of the pandemic flu, also known as H1N1, Anne Schuchat, director of the Atlanta-based CDC’s Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said today.
Swine flu, first reported in April, is spreading at unprecedented rates for this time of year, Schuchat said. The disease puts young people, pregnant women and those with health conditions such as asthma and diabetes at greatest risk, with about 90 percent of the deaths of people younger than 64. Supply of the vaccine to prevent the disease has fallen far short of heath authorities estimates.
The previous reporting system was “potentially giving an incomplete story of the pandemic,” Schuchat said in a conference call with reporters. “What we’re really trying to do is give a bigger picture.”
New Estimate
The toll published by the CDC before today was based on confirmed cases in 10 states, while the new numbers extrapolate nationwide tallies from the same surveillance system. The estimates will be updated every three to four weeks and don’t include infections since Oct. 17, when swine flu has circulated at its highest rate, Schuchat said.
“We don’t think things have changed from last week to this week,” Schuchat said of the disease.
more.....
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aeE_7PAb6.Kw