WASHINGTON (Reuters) - H1N1 swine flu killed an estimated 3,900 Americans from April to October, U.S. health officials said on Thursday.
The starling thing about these deaths is 90% have been in people under the age of 65. This statistic is reverse what is normally seen for the seasonal flu.
In a normal flu season, 90% of deaths are in elderly people. Since September, 90% of deaths have been in people under age 65 -- with almost a quarter of the deaths in young people under age 25.
The government stopped counting swine flu (H1N1) cases in the US back in July when the number reached about 1 million. Swine flu has killed over 1000 people in the United States so far. The fog has lifted and President Obama sees an emergency.
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama declared the swine flu outbreak a national emergency and empowered his health secretary to suspend federal guidelines at hospitals and speed up how infected people might receive treatment in a disaster...
Administration officials said the declaration was a pre-emptive move designed to make decisions easier when they need to be made. Officials said this was not in response to any single development on an outbreak that has lasted months and has killed more than 1,000 people in the United States.
Adding to the crisis, there is a severe shortage of the H1N1 vaccine.
THURSDAY, Oct. 22 -- As reports of swine flu infections continue to pour in from across the United States, health experts labored Thursday to explain why delivery of stocks of the long-awaited H1N1 vaccine are falling behind schedule.
Federal officials had projected that 40 million doses would be on hand by Oct. 15, but not even 13 million doses had arrived by Tuesday.
Meanwhile, President Obama is giving 10% of our swine flu vaccine to the WHO for other countries.
Obama Donating 10 Percent of H1N1 Vaccines to Poor Countries
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US government reported Monday more than 400 new cases of swine flu to take the nation's total number of infections above 5,000, and said it remained on guard for an autumn upsurge.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the number of confirmed and probable cases in 47 states plus Washington's District of Columbia now stood at 5,123, up from 4,714 on Friday.
A teacher at a New York school who had been in critical condition for days died Sunday after being infected with the A(H1N1) virus, taking the US death toll to six. Only Mexico has suffered more deaths from the disease.
The CDC has downgraded a travel warning for Mexico but Anne Schuchat, director of the agency's center for immunization and respiratory diseases, took issue with media reporting that is now playing down the outbreak.
"The H1N1 virus is not going away, despite what you may have heard," she told reporters, stressing that the number of confirmed cases in the United States may be only the "tip of the iceberg."
"Unfortunately based on the trends we're seeing, we do expect more illness, more hospitalizations, and more deaths," Schuchat said, with more than 200 people already requiring hospital treatment in the United States.
The CDC quit doing a separate state by state map two days ago. They are now throwing swine flu in with other flu statistics. This graph shows the explosion of swine flu in the last two weeks. Swine flu cases are the dark blue part of the stacked bar.
Swine flu is now being downplayed by the Obama administration and the Main Stream Media. However, according to the latest CDC numbers, Swine flu (H1N1) is rapidly spreading in the US. Over 2500 confirmed cased and three deaths have been recorded. According to the CDC.gov:
The ongoing outbreak of novel influenza A (H1N1) continues to expand in the United States. CDC expects that more cases, more hospitalizations and more deaths from this outbreak will occur over the coming days and weeks.
CDC continues to take aggressive action to respond to the expanding outbreak. CDC’s response goals are to reduce spread and illness severity, and provide information to help health care providers, public health officials and the public address the challenges posed by this emergency.
Vice President Joe Biden got a spanking in the media this week over his warning against travel on planes and trains. Looks like he is having his "crow" on a train ride from D.C. to Delaware. MyWay is reporting:
WASHINGTON (AP) - One day after saying he wouldn't travel in tight quarters because of the swine flu scare, Vice President Joe Biden rode a train Friday from Washington to Delaware.
Known for speaking freely, Biden told NBC's "Today" show on Thursday that he had urged family members to avoid airplanes and subways for fear of contracting the H1N1 flu virus.
"I wouldn't go anywhere in confined places now," Biden said.
The comments infuriated the travel industry and triggered several revisions from the Obama administration, whose official advice is less severe.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano commented, "If he could say that over again, he would say if they're feeling sick, they should stay off of public transit or confined spaces."
By Friday night, Biden seemed ready for his own do-over. A longtime rider of Amtrak, he took a train from Union Station to his Delaware home, his office said.
Border agents are upset at the absurd decision from the DHS to not allow them to wear masks as protection against swine flu. Political correctness and appearances have been put above their personal safety. The time has come for Janet Napolitano to resign or be fired.
Border Patrol agents ordered NOT to wear protective masks against Mexican swine flu!
Janet Napolitano strikes again! Time to call for her resignation. Our Border patrol agents are NOT permitted to protect their health because DHS doesn't like how it looks to the public and does not want commerce to be effected at the risk of American lives.
"We are now calling for Janet Napolitano's immediate resignation!" William Gheen, President of ALIPAC
In response to the swine fly pandemic, the Mexican government has decided to lose all but essential services. This drastic response comes after another reported 17 deaths in Mexico. Essential services such as transport, supermarkets, trash collection and hospitals will remain open. Fox News reported:
Mexico's president told citizens on Wednesday to stay home for a five-day partial shutdown of the economy, after the World Health Organization raised its alert level and said a swine flu pandemic was imminent.
In his first televised address since the crisis erupted last week, President Felipe Calderon told Mexicans to stay home with their families. The country will suspend non-essential work and services, including some government ministries, from May 1-5.
"There is no safer place than your own home to avoid being infected with the flu virus," Calderon said.
Mexico is taking the drastic step after another 17 deaths were potentially linked to swine flu, bringing the total to as many as 176.
According to the CDC, there have been 91 cases of Swine flu reported in the U.S. One death has resulted in Texas. Here is a Google map of the outbreak locations.
Either the Chinese are hitting back for recent US restrictions on dangerous products or our pork does not have enough lead content. Fox News reported:
China and five other countries have banned pork and other meat products from some U.S. states, drawing criticism from U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk since officials say the swine flu is not transmitted by food.
Kirk's office said the bans were imposed because of the swine flu outbreak. The countries imposing those bans are China, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Philippines, Thailand and United Arab Emirates.
Reuters reports that Kirk warned those countries that such bans are not based on science and could disrupt trade.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says pork is still safe to eat, and that all food-borne germs are killed when pork is cooked to 160 F anyway.
The swine flu pandemic(outbreak) has crossed the border into the U.S. Twenty cases have been reported so far this month. According to the CDC,
Human cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) virus infection have been identified in the United States. Human cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) virus infection also have been identified internationally. The current U.S. case count is provided below.
