NC Healthcare Coverage Blog

On October 9, health officials reported that 76  children have died from the swine flu. This includes 16 new reports in the past week. This presents an ever increasing amount of evidence suggesting that this new virus, the H1N1, is unusually dangerous for children.

According to the CDC and Prevention Data, the seasonal flu kills between 46 and 88 children each year. At a press conference held Friday, October 9, Dr. Anne Schuchat said that since swine flu cases are rising, more deaths are very likely. She warned that 37 states are currently reporting widespread swine flu cases, which is up from 27 a week ago. Just one week ago, there were reports that indicated these cases might be leveling off and maybe even decreasing in some places of the U.S. Unfortunately, that turned out to be a short-lived trend.

Schuchat, who heads the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, says that they are unfortunately seeing more illnesses, hospitalizations, and more deaths.

All this said, the CDC officials report that states have ordered 3.7 million doses of swine flu vaccine for a campaign that started this week. So far, demand is outweighing supply. People who want the vaccine can begin by contacting their state or local health department to find out where to get it.

Also, health officials say more data is coming in from different clinical trials of the new vaccine, and there have been no serious side effects reported so far.

Early information from one study reveal that both seasonal and swine flu vaccines are effective when given at the same time. However, the government does not suggest that people get the nasal spray versions of each vaccine at the same time.

An exact report of all swine flu deaths and hospitalizations is not available from the CDC at this time, but current reports indicate that the infection has caused over 600 deaths and around 9000 or more hospitalizations since it first appeared in April.