Posted on the Pediatric SuperSite on November 12, 2009
CDC: Estimated 22 million Americans sick from influenza
A (H1N1) during six months of pandemic
An estimated 22 milllion people in the United States
became ill from influenza A (H1N1) during the first six months of the pandemic
and as there are several more months of influenza season to go, vaccination of
certain groups, particularly children, is key, according to the
CDC’s director of immunization and respiratory diseases.
Anne Schuchat, MD, said that the estimates are
based on data from the Emerging Infections Program Network. She said that based
on data from this surveillance system of hospitalized patients, CDC officials
estimate about 98,000 people have been hospitalized and 3,900 have died from
this illness so far. Of that number, about 540 were children.
Until now, the CDC had conservatively put the U.S.
mortality associated with this strain of influenza at “more than
1,000,” and had reported on 129 laboratory-confirmed deaths in children.
The surveillance data are helping CDC officials paint a more accurate picture
of total morbidity and mortality associated with this illness, Schuchat said.
The figures track from April to Oct. 17, and suggest the
number of hospitalizations range from 63,000 to 153,000 and deaths range from
2,500 to as high as 6,100. Schuchat said the illness has affected all age
groups, with adults ages 18 to 64 making up about 12 million cases and seniors
about 2 million cases.
Schuchat said the new figures reemphasize the importance
of getting the vaccinations to high-risk groups, such as children and adults
with chronic conditions like diabetes. She noted that November is American
Diabetes Month and she said that it is important for patients with diabetes and
other chronic conditions to get vaccinated to protect themselves, even if
efforts to obtain the vaccine have been difficult. She said about 12% of all
hospitalized patients seen have had chronic conditions, and of those, about 19%
of those patients have diabetes.
So far, about 41.6 million doses of the vaccine are
available, Schuchat said, which is far less than manufacturers had projected by
this time. However, she said, more “vaccine is being ordered and delivered
very day.” — by Colleen Zacharyczuk
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