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OK, percentages for national swine flu so far.....


sassenach

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Flu report raises alert http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story...sdate=10/9/2009

CDC study shows some H1N1 factors a little higher than seasonal flu

 

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, Associated Press

First published in print: Friday, October 9, 2009

One quarter of Americans sick enough to be hospitalized with swine flu last spring wound up needing intensive care and 7 percent of them died, the first such study of the early months of the global epidemic suggests.

 

 

That's a little higher than with ordinary seasonal flu, several experts said.

 

What is striking and unusual is that children and teens accounted for nearly half of the hospitalized cases, including many who were previously healthy. The study did not give a breakdown of deaths by age.

 

"Contrary to the perception among many people that this influenza, novel H1N1, is mild, these data vividly demonstrate that influenza can make you very, very ill," said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University flu expert and spokesman for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

 

"Clearly, the best way to protect yourself and your family is to get vaccine as soon as it becomes available," said Schaffner, who had no role in the study but has consulted for swine flu vaccine makers.

 

The study was done by researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, working with hospitals and state and local health departments. Results were published online Thursday by the New England Journal of Medicine.

 

A second study released by the journal revealed that swine flu had a profound effect on intensive care units in Australia and New Zealand from June through August -- winter months and the normal flu season in the Southern Hemisphere.

 

"They had a 15-fold increase in ICU care. That's a 1,500 percent increase," said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. "We're still heading into our flu season. Will we see this same big increase in cases over the next several months or will we have a peak in cases in October or November?"

 

In the U.S. study, researchers led by the CDC's Dr. Seema Jain identified 272 patients hospitalized for at least a day from April through mid-June, when the novel virus caused its first wave of cases. That's about one-fourth of the total hospitalizations for swine flu reported during that time, but researchers only studied lab-confirmed cases and patients who agreed to be part of the study.

 

Three-fourths of these patients had other health problems, such as diabetes -- typical of seasonal flu, too. However, only 5 percent were 65 and older; ordinary seasonal flu usually hits hardest in the elderly.

 

Seven percent were pregnant, even though pregnant women make up only 1 percent of the general population. Among hospitalized patients whose weight was known, 26 percent were very obese, confirming a risk factor suggested by other information from the outbreak.

 

Symptoms were different -- 39 percent had diarrhea or vomiting versus only 5 percent with regular flu. About 40 percent had pneumonia. Seven percent died.

 

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

 

 

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Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story...9#ixzz0Ts6tQ4Hx

( I bolded the sections that are bold print).

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I wonder if the pneumonia vaccine will protect against it if we should get the flu . I got a pneumonia shot last year. Lasts 10 years I think.

I have diabetes. I was not sure about the swine flu vaccine at first, I still have some reservations, but I am going to get one ASAP. This is too scary.

I hope they get the injections soon ! I already got my seasonal flu shot . So did my dh. I hope my daughter and grandson get one soon.

Thanks for the report.

Oh, and Mom11 and I are both doing sinus washes daily. She taught her children to do them. We are going to start gargling, too. Salt water gargle. Apple cider vinegar is supposed to be better, yet, due to the acid in it. Then you are to drink the cup of water with the apple cider vinegar. Wonder why bottled lemon juice would not be the same if it is the acid. Maybe it depends upon the kind of acid. I just know in canning we can sub bottled lemon juice for vinegar.

 

 

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In the past 7 days, 21 more people in Florida have died of lab-confirmed H1N1. The state also reports 872 hospitalizations in persons with lab-confirmed H1N1.

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