By Truman Lewis
ConsumerAffairs.com
October 13, 2009
The H1N1 flu is now widespread in 37 states, and health officials fear the nation may not have enough intensive care unit beds to accommodate those stricken by the most severe form of the disease.
Dr. Anne Schuchat, Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC, said today that the H1N1 -- or "swine" -- flu is widespread in most states, with outpatient visits, hospitalizations and deaths on the rise.
All states and Washington, D.C. have now placed orders for the H1N1 vaccine. As of yesterday, 6.8 million doses are available to be ordered and 3.7 million doses had been ordered by states, with requests and disbursement numbers changing by the hour, Schuchat said.
Meanwhile, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds that while H1N1 is mild in most patients, some become so severely ill that they require advanced life support in an ICU to survive. The study found that the percentage of severely ill patients who died from H1N1 ranged from 17% in Canada to 41% in Mexico.
Most of those who died were young adults or children. Some, but not all, had other health conditions that elevated their risk.
The findings increase concern that U.S. hospitals's ICUs may not be able to handle the situation if the number of severe cases rises rapidly. Most ICUs already operate close to capacity and would face serious strains in accommodating a large patient load increase.
Vaccine
Public health officials say early treatment and widespread immunization are the keys to holding down the mortality rate.
At today's CDC briefing, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, reported that studies have shown that the H1N1 vaccine injection and the seasonal flu vaccine injection can be given simultaneously. He also reported that trials of H1N1 vaccine are beginning in people with asthma and in children, youth, and pregnant women infected with HIV.
Latest stats
Here are the latest findings from the CDC:
• Visits to doctors for influenza-like illness (ILI) continued to increase in the United States, and overall, are higher than levels expected for this time of the year.
• Total influenza hospitalization rates for laboratory-confirmed influenza are higher than expected for this time of year for adults and children. And for children 5-17 and adults 18-49 years of age, hospitalization rates from April October 2009 exceed average flu season rates (for October through April).
• The proportion of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza (P&I;) based on the 122 Cities Report has increased and now exceeds what is normally expected at this time of year. In addition, 19 flu-related pediatric deaths were reported this week; 16 of these deaths were confirmed 2009 H1N1 and 3 were unsubtyped influenza A and likely to be 2009 H1N1. A total of 76 laboratory confirmed 2009 H1N1 pediatric deaths have been reported to CDC since April.
• Thirty-seven states are reporting widespread influenza activity at this time. They are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming. Any reports of widespread influenza activity in September and October are very unusual.
• Almost all of the influenza viruses identified so far are 2009 H1N1 influenza A viruses. These viruses remain similar to the virus chosen for the 2009 H1N1 vaccine, and remain susceptible to the antiviral drugs oseltamivir and zanamivir with rare exception.
