U.S. pediatric deaths continue to mount from Swine Flu
Latest U.S. Swine Flu map. Click to enlarge.
ATLANTA – U.S pediatric deaths from Swine Flu continued to mount with the Centers for Disease Control reporting 26 confirmed and eight unconformed deaths from the virus in one week.
Since Aug. 30, 98 pediatric deaths have been confirmed from Swine Flu while 19 deaths remained unsubtyped but were probably caused by the H1N1 virus. The CDC also reported a death this week from seasonal flu.
So far, 178 children have died from confirmed or suspected Swine Flu, the CDC said in its latest figures.
“Thirty-five influenza-associated pediatric deaths were reported to CDC during week 44 (Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas [2], California [8], Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan [2], Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio [2], Oklahoma [3], Tennessee [2], Texas [6], Utah, Virginia, and Washington),” said the agency.
“ Twenty-six of these deaths were associated with 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus infection, eight were associated with an influenza A virus for which the subtype is undetermined, and one was associated with an influenza B virus infection.
Since August 30, 2009, CDC has received 117 reports of influenza-associated pediatric deaths that occurred during the current influenza season (18 deaths in children less than 2 years old, 12 deaths in children 2-4 years old, 41 deaths in children 5-11 years old, and 46 deaths in children 12-17 years old). Ninety-eight (84%)of the 117 deaths were due to 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus infections, and the remaining 19 were associated with influenza A virus for which the subtype is undetermined.
“ A total of 156 deaths in children associated with 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus infection have been reported to CDC.
“From August 30 – November 7, 2009, 22,364 laboratory-confirmed influenza associated hospitalizations and 877 laboratory-confirmed influenza associated deaths were reported to CDC,” the agency said.
Visits to doctor for influenza-like illness (ILI) nationally decreased this week over last week. This is the second week of national decreases in ILI after four consecutive weeks of sharp increases. (All regions but one showed declines in ILI. Region I (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI and VT) continues to show sharp increases in ILI activity. While ILI declined overall nationally, visits to doctors for influenza-like illness remain higher than what is seen during the peak of many regular flu seasons.
Hospitalization rates for laboratory-confirmed flu continue to climb and remain higher than expected for this time of year. Hospitalization rates continue to be highest in younger populations with the highest hospitalization rate reported in children 0-4 years old.
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