Latest Update on H1N1 Swine Flu As of February 13, 2010

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that since the H1N1 swine flu outbreak began last April, almost one in five Americans developed the H1N1 swine, amounting to 57 million Americans representing slightly more than 18 percent of the population. For many, the symptoms were so mild that they did not know they had the H1N1 swine flu. About 11,690 Americans, however, have died and nearly 260,000 Americans had to be hospitalized because of the H1N1 swine flu. As it turns out, adults 18 to 64 were the hardest hit, accounting for 76 percent of the deaths and 58 percent of the infections and hospitalizations. This is in contrast with the seasonal flu where typically 60 percent of the hospitalizations and 90 percent of the deaths occur among persons 65 years or older. There were two major waves of the H1N1 swine flu - one last spring and one this past fall. The good news is that unless a third outbreak occurs before the winter is over, the H1N1 swine flu seems to be abating, with only two million cases and just slightly over 500 deaths have occurred between Dec. 11th and Jan. 16, 2010. Also, an estimated 70 million Americans have been vaccinated against the H1N1 swine flu.

Seven New Pediatric Deaths Reported During Last Week From H1N1 Swine Flu

While the CDC reports a continued decline in H1N1 Swine flu activity, it nevertheless reported seven new pediatric deaths in the United States from the H1N1 swine flu for the week of January 3-9, 2010. Since the first case of the H1N1 swine flu last spring, the CDC reports a total of 300 pediatric deaths thus far in the United States. The CDC cautions that this number is likely to be an under-reporting since it is based on only laboratory confirmed pediatric deaths from the H1N1 swine flu. For this reason, for total deaths the CDC provides only a range of estimates. As of December 12, 2009 (the latest date for which information is available), the CDC's estimate of the total deaths from the H1N1 swine flu in the United States ranged from a low of 7,880 deaths to 14,460 deaths. The good news is that reported cases of both H1N1 swine flu and the regular seasonal flu are decreasing, though both types of flu are expected to continue to infect individuals for the next couple of months.

Dengue Fever Is Already A World-Wide Epidemic

While an estimated 12,500 people worldwide died in 2009 from the H1N1 Swine Flu and billions of dollars were spent on a vaccine to halt its spread, another world-wide health epidemic already currently threatens over 2.5 billion people worldwide - and is increasingly spreading from such places as Mexico into the United States. This is the mosquito-born illness known as the Dengue Fever. Originally confined to Southeast Asia, because of globalization and climate warming, it is a disease that is rapidly spreading throughout the world. What is particularly alarming about the Dengue Fever are three of its characteristics: (1) infected individuals can travel from one country or state to another, and when bitten by a mosquito, can pass the disease on to other individuals bitten by the same mosquito; (2) in some cases, the death rate from the Dengue Fever has been as high as twenty percent; and (3) one's chances of severe complications or dying from the Dengue Fever rise as one is infected more than once.

New H5N1 Avian Flu Outbreak

While most individuals are continuing to focus on the on-going H1N1 swine flu pandemic, they are generally unaware that a new H5N1 avian flu outbreak is occuring with reported cases in several countries, including 90 reported cases in Egypt alone. At this point, no one knows how severe this new flu outbreak will be. While the 2009 H1N1 swine flu has turned out to not be as severe as feared, health officials warn that at some point we could have a repeat of the 1918-19 Spanish flu -- also known as the "Great Influenza" - which caused more deaths from any single cause in human history. As many as 150 million people worldwide died from the 1918 Spanish flu, 700,000 of these in the U.S. Like the current H1N1 swine flu, what was unique about the 1918 Spanish flu was how young people were more likely to die than adults. It is still unclear what are the characteristics of the even newer H5N1 avian flu outbreak.

Latest Update on H1N1 Swine Flu Deaths and Hospitalizations

As of November 14, 2009, the CDC estimates that 34-67 million people in the U.S. had become infected with the H1N1 swine flu, with the best estimate of the likely number of cases being 47 million people. Its best estimates is that of this number 213,000 people ended up being hospitalized for the H1N1 swine flu. In one hospital, 28 of 100 pregnant women in intensive care died from the H1N1 swine flu. While most people did not get seriously ill even though they were infected with the H1N1 swine flu, what has been the greatest concern of health officials has been how in a small number of people it has infected the cells of the lungs of an individual. As the flu cells rapidly mutliply, it causes the cell walls to burst. As of November 14, CDC's best estimate of the number of deaths in the U.S. from the 2009 H1N1 swine flu has been 9,820. Of this number, 7,450 deaths were for individuals aged 18-65 while 1,090 deaths were individuals aged 17 and under. The typical pattern of those individuals who have died from the swine flu has been for them to show signs of getting better - then to suddenly get worse as they develop viral pneumonia. The good news is that since November 14, 2009, the number of H1N1 swine flu cases in the U.S. has been steadily decreasing.

Revised Estimates for H1N1 Swine Flu Deaths

While all types of the flu are notoriously unpredictable, a new study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health for the federal government indicates that the number of deaths from the current H1N1 swine flu pandemic are likely to be lower than previously predicted. With there currently being over 80 million doses of the H1N1 swine flu vaccine distributed thus far in the U.S., it appears that the worst of the current pandemic might now be past us. This is backed up by recent statistics that show a decrease in hospitalizations from the H1N1 swine flu virus. As a consequence, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health are predicting that the number of deaths in the U.S. from the H1N1 swine flu for the year will range anywhere from 6,000 to 45,000, with the predicted number of deaths likely being in the 10,000-15,000 range. This compares with the previous estimate of 30,000-90,000 deaths in the U.S. for the current H1N1 swine flu pandemic, 34,000 deaths from the 1967-68 flu epidemic, 70,000 deaths from the 1957-58 flu epidemic, and 500,000-750,000 deaths from the 1917 flu pandemic. Other experts caution, however, that in past flu epidemics, there has typically been a late-winter second wave. If this were to occur with the current pandemic, then death rates could be higher. For this reason, all health experts encourage individuals to get vaccinated for the H1N1 swine flu if they have not already done so. Health experts also caution that the current strain of the H1N1 swine flu could still mutate and become more deadly. Finally, even if the overall death rate for the current H1N1 swine flu pandemic is lower than previously predicted, health experts point out that it has nevertheless had an exceptionally higher percentage among young people and pregnant women. For this reason, the H1N1 swine flu pandemic continues to be a continuing health crisis.

REASONS FOR SHORTAGE OF H1N1 SWINE FLU VACCINE - AND PROBLEMS GOING FORWARD

From a policy perspective, three new events have emerged with respect to the public response to the H1N1 swine flu. One is the realization that public health officials have been under-reporting the number of infected people, hospitalizations and deaths. This has since been corrected so that it is now estimated that 22 million people have thus far contracted the H1N1 swine flu. This contracting of data has also resulted in the CDC reporting that they now people that we have had 540 pediatric deaths (i.e. youth 18 years and younger) and 4000 overall deaths from the H1N1 swine flu thus far. This is a wake-up call - since it is a significantly larger number of deaths and infected persons than had previously been reported.

The second policy event that has emerged is the realization that significantly less than the projected amount of H1N1 swine flu vaccine has been produced and distributed. Because what has been distributed as been freely distributed to almost anyone who wanted it given the assumption that there would be an ample supply, the result is that many (if not most) of the people at the highest risk of death from the H1N1 swine flu have not been able to receive the vaccine as promised. This is the opposite experience in Europe and other developed countries where the flu vaccine is being distributed through appointments so that all individuals at the highest risk of death receive the vaccine first. In the U.S., however, basically no priority has been given to those individuals at the highest risk - leaving high risk individuals to do what they can to find the vaccine given the chaotic distribution system in the U.S. and the resultant long lines where often more people are turned away than receive the vaccine.

The third policy even that has emerged is a realization that the U.S. errored in not developing U.S. manufacturing capacity, and instead relying upon foreign company suppliers. In this regard, because the U.S. had been reduced to only one licensed flu vaccine manufacturer in the United States when the H1N1 swine flu pandemic hit - the U.S. turned to overseas manufacturers to provide the additional required supply of the H1N1 swine fluvaccine. Unfortunately, signing up new manufacturers led to unexpected production problems. Also, the use of overseas manufacturers led to the unexpected problem of Canada and Australia block the shipment of the contracted for vaccines to the U.S. until such time as the total vaccine demand for their own countries could be filled. All of this led to the current crisis where the federal govenment expected to deliver 120 million doses of the H1N1 swine flu vaccine by mid-October, but was only able to deliver 28 million doses by mid-October.

Together, these new policy issues raise significant questions as to what should be done to correct this problem of not enough vaccine being available and of the fact that the highest risk individuals are not being given priority, and thus are not receiving the vaccine (which predictably will lead to a higher death rate than what otherwise would be the case). All of these new policy issues also raise the question as to how the government should respond if the high number of H1N1 swine flu hospitalizations and deaths continue - or even increase - as we get into December and January. There are also two even more frightening possibilties. One is that the H1N1 swine flu mutates, so that we need to produce a new vaccine - or that experience shows that a second shot needs to be given. But the even more frightening possibilitiy is the potential for the H1N1 swine flu to mutate and merge with the Avian flu virus, since the H1N1 swine flu actually already contains elements from the Avian flu virus. This would be a disastrous scenario since the current death rate for the Avian flu virus is that 70 percent of the people who contract it die from it.

Following are the companies currently licensed by the U.S. to produce the H1N1 swine flu vaccine for distribution in the U.S.:

(1) Sanofi Pasteur is located in the United States in Pennsylvania. It has produced 50 percent of the H1N1 swine flu vaccine thus far distributed in the U.S. It is the great success story of the vaccine suppliers for the U.S.

(2) CSL is located in Australia. It "was" expected to be one of the primary suppliers of the H1N1 swine flu vaccine to the U.S., but was blocked by the government of Austrialia from shipping any vaccine to the U.S. until all of the demand in Australia was satisfied.

(3) GlaxoSmithKline is another company contracted to supply the vaccine and is located in Canada. Unfortunately, the Canada govenment blocked it from supplying any of its H1N1 swine flu vaccine to the American market until demand in Canada was fully satisfied.

(4) Novartis Vaccines is located in Liverpool, England. It was also expected to be one of the primary supplies of the H1N1 swine flu vaccine to the U.S., but encountered production problems. It nevertheless has shipped 18 million vaccine doses to the U.S.

(5) Medimmune is the principal producer of the nasal mist form of the vaccine and has shipped all of the 42 million doses of the nasal mist vaccine it was contracted to supply - but a significant amount of the supplies shipped to the U.S. have yet to be distributed.

One additional issue that has arisen is the fact that all other industrialized countries have contracted for an "adjuvanted" version of the H1N1 swine flu vaccine. This allows for a quadruple the amount of vaccine that can be produced and has the added benefit of potentially providing for protection in case the H1N1 swine flu virus mutates. Even though the use of the adjuvant was approved for use in Europe as far back as 1999, the FDA in the U.S. has yet to license its use in the U.S. Ironically, the U.S. has purchased a large supply of the adjuvant that it is not using - but is keeping in storage in Louisville, Kentucky. Given the shortage of vaccine in the U.S. and the unexected number of people infected this early in the season with the H1N1 swine flu, many urge that the U.S. shift to the use of an adjuvant vaccine.

5 Reported Cases In U.S. of Guillame-Barre Syndrome As Adverse Reaction and Complication From H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine

H1N1 Swine Flu Update As Of November 16, 2009 --This past week a Washington, D.C. television station aired the story of a student in Northern Virgina who came down with Guillame-Barre Syndrome a day after receiving both the H1N1 swine flu and seasonal flu vaccines. The day after receiving the vaccines, he developed severe muscle twitches and spasms and became partially paralyzed. While he is recovering, he has to use a walker to enable him to walk until he recovers more fully. Commenting on the story in a television interview, the Director of the National Institutes of Health confirmed that there have been 5 cases thus far in the U.S. of individuals developing Guillame-Barre Syndrome after receiving the H1N1 swine flu vaccine. He explained, however, that the government has never stated that the H1N1 swine flu vaccine was totally safe. Instead, he explained that it is a matter of balancing risks - and that the risk of death for young people and high-risk individuals from contracting the H1N1 swine flu is much greater than the risk of any adverse reaction or complication from the vaccine. To support his argument, European countries have reported a doubling of the number of pediatric deaths frm the H1N1 swine flu in just 4 days while the number of pediatric deaths from the H1N1 swine flu in the United States has risen from 144 a week ago to 540 - or over a three-fold increase in just a week. To put such a high number of pediatric deaths from the H1N1 swine flu in perspective, in a normal flu season there are only a total of 80 of pediatric deaths during an entire flu season -- yet here the flu season has just begun and there is already 540 pediatric deaths from the H1N1 swine flu. Pediatric deaths are defined as deaths of young people 18 years and younger. During a typical flu season, 90 percent of the individuals seeking medical treatment are age 65 or older. With the current H1N1 swine flu pandemic, however, 90 percent of the individuals seeking medical treatment are under the age of 65. This makes the H1N1 swine flu more like the 1918 flu pandemic than seasonal flu outbreaks. Thus far, health officials estimate that 22 million Americans have contracted the H1N1 swine flu. Of this number, it is estimated that 8 million have been young people 18 years or younger, with 36,000 of these young people requiring hospitalization and 540 dying. It is for this reason, the Director of the National Institutes of Health argues, that the benefits of receiving the H1N1 swine flu vaccine and being protected greatly outweigh the risks of receiving the vaccine.

Child Deaths and Hospitalizations from H1N1 Swine Flu Continues To Rise - Update as of Monday, Nov. 9, 2009

The vast majority of hospitalizations and deaths from the H1N1 swine flu continues to be children, with the total of each increasing with every week. This past week, there were 15 child deaths confirmed by lab results as being from the H1N1 swine flu and 3 additional child deaths that were problably from the H1N1 swine flu. Since just August 30, 2009 (i.e. since school has stated), there have been a total of 80 childhood deaths in the U.S. from the H1N1 swine flu virus. And since the flu pandemic first broke in April, there have been a total of 144 child deaths. On a local level, the news hits communities hard. As an example, a 9 year old died of the swine flu in Oklahoma City while a 23 month old child died of the swine flu in Oklahoma City. In Chattanoogoa, Tennessee, a child has recently died of the swine flu while 3 others are ill from the swine flu. Everyone, are heart-breaking stories of children dying from the H1N1 swine flu, even though normally the flu is a disease that does not affect the yung. Meanwhile, as one can see from the data, the number of hospitalizations and deaths of young children who have contracted the H1N1 swine flu continues to risk with every week. Also, 99 percent of all flu cases laboratory tested have been confirmed to be the H1N1 swine flu. Clearly, the United States if facing an unprecedented public health crisis where it is still too early to confirm just how deathly this current flu pandemic will turn out to be. As to it being a pandemic, there is no doubt, as infections from the H1N1 swine flu are widespread throughout the United States and the world. Of great concern continues to be the severe shortage of the H1N1 swine flu vaccine. The CDC has originally projected to have 140 million does of the vaccine by mid-October (i.e for a population of 350 million). By the middle of October, however, the CDC had only delivered some 14 million does and as of the latest update, it has only shipped slightly over 26 million does. This leaves an insufficient supply of the vaccine -- even for those individuals at the highest risk and who thus should have been able to receive the vaccine by now. Some individuals are now wondering whether the opening of schools should have been delayed until there was a sufficient number of doses of the vaccine to vaccinate young school-age children, especially since they are experiencing the great deaths. This presents a moral deilemmia for many parents as to whether they should send their children to school when they know their school has experienced a number of H1N1 swine flu illnesses, and thus risk the life of their children. Meanwhile, protectors in New York and elsewere have protested the fact that Wall Street firms such as Goldman Sachs have been given supplies of the vaccine to give to their employees at times when local health departments report having no supplies and schools are reporting that they have yet to receive any vaccine to vaccine their children.

Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009 - Study Indicates For First Time Why And What People Die From H1N1 Swine Flu

A study of 1,088 people hospitalized from the H1N1 swine flu in California between August 11-23 indicates for the first time why and what people are dying from the H1N1 swine flu. In this regard, the study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, indicated that 11 percent, or 118 patients died. Nearly a third of the hospitalized patients had no underlying health conditions. What was surprising, however, was that 20 percent of all patients 50 years of age or older died from the H1N1 swine flu while only 2 percent of those patients 18 years or younger died of the H1N1 swine flu. This does not change the previously observed phenomenon that more younger people are contracting the H1N1 swine flu, indicating that potentially people 50 years or older have some limited immunity. But of those patients 50 years of age or older who have to be hospitalized from the H1N1 swine flu, for some reason they have by far the highest death rate. The study also indicated that 30 percent of all patients, or 340 patients, who were hospitalized had to be treated in intensive care. Despite the significantly higher death rates among elderly persons hospitalized from the H1N1 swine flu, the CDC has announced that it will continue to give priority to vaccinating young people because of their higher rate of contracting the virus.

2009 H1N1 Swine Flu Update As Of November 2, 2009

The above map produced by the CDC shows that essentially all people with flu symptoms in the United States and Canada have tested positive for the 2009 H1N1 swine flu. This confirms what health officials have been saying - which is that the seasonal influenza has yet to emerge and that if you have flu symptoms you are almost certain to have the 2009 H1N1 swine flu. Meanwhile, Dr. Frieden, Director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), reported that there was a significant upsurge in child H1N1 swine flu deaths with many more likely to occur over the coming weeks and months. Just this last week alone, there were 114 child deaths of the H1N1 swine flu, the largest weekly total since the flu outbreak occured back in April. He indicated that clearly the H1N1 swine flu is become more virulent and widespread throughout the population, and especially among the young now that children have returned to school. Unfortunately, he also had to report that the last 234,000 doses of liquid Tamiflu have been released from the national stockpile. Tamiflu is an antiviral medicine which, if given at the first symptoms of the flu, can reduce its severity. Unfortunately, young children cannot take the capsule form of Tamiflu that adults can. Instead, young children must take the liquid form. Hence, the fact that the last supplies of liquid Tamiflu have had to be released from the national stockpile raises concerns as to how to treat young people who contract the H1N1 swine flu after the supply of Tamiflu runs out. Older children and adults can also take Relenza, a similar antiviral medicine. But children 7 years of younger or older children with asthma or other respiratory conditions cannot take Relenza. Totally, the World Health Organization now reports over 5,000 deaths from the H1N1 swine flu, with Iceland and Sudan just reporting there first deaths from the H1N1 swine flu. The vast majority of hospitalizations and deaths, however, have been in North America (i.e. the United States, Canada and Mexico). In North America, it has also been reported that otherwise health young adults and adults up to the age of 50 for some reason are also experiencing a high percentage of hospitalizations and deaths. This is contrary to earlier reports which had thought that only older children and adults with underlying health conditions had died. More comprehensive statistics, indicate, however, that many young adults and adults up to age 50 with no underlying health conditions are being hospitalized and dying. As an example, two young adults of 18 years old with no underlying health conditions died at the end of this past week in Maryland. In response to the large number of students absent with flu symptoms, the number of school closings across the country because of the swine flu continues to rise, with Grafton High School in Boston being the last school to close. A recent study of the Brookings Institution that such school closings because of the H1N1 swine flu could cost the country between $10 and $47 billion. Schools across the country are cancelling programs to award students at the end of the school year for perfect attendance records in an effort to shift priorties to encouraging students to remain home if they are ill. Similar programs to emphasize attendance less and to encourage sick employees to stay home are being undertake by hospitals and other business employers who can ill afford to have their work forces devastated with a large number of absences at once. Also, airlines are becoming more lenient on offering refunds or waiving re-booking fees for air travelers who feel they cannot make their flights because of flu-like symptoms.

63 Percent of U.S. Population Is Predicted to Become Infected With H1N1 Swine Flu

A recent study by Purdue University has predicted that 63 percent of the U.S. population will become infected with the H1N1 swine flu. Of this amount, 40 percent are predicted to become ill. This translates into an estimated 25 percent of the U.S. population who are predicted to become ill with the H1N1 swine flu. Already, the number of people sick with the H1N1 swine flu is greater than the normal peak for a typical flu season. This is despite that the normal peak for flu cases for a normal season is in January, and it is only October and we already have a greater number of H1N1 swine flu cases than during the peak of a typical flu season. This has caught health officials by surprise as they had not expected this many cases of the H1N1 swine flu this early in the flu season. Also of concern is the fact that there are currently available significantly less amounts of the H1N1 swine flu vaccine than had been expected to be available. As a result, some health officials are predicting that there could be as many as 90,000 deaths in the U.S. from the H1N1 swine flu. This contrasts with a normal flu season where there are typically 36,000 deaths in the U.S. from the flu. Also of concern is the fact that most deaths from the normal strain of flu are among the elderly. With the current epidemic of the H1N1 swine flu, however, the greatest number of hospitalizations and deaths have been among school-aged children and pregnant women. For this reason, the young, pregnant women and all other individuals at high risk for the H1N1 swine flu are urged to get vaccinated as soon as supplies of the vaccination become available. For some reason as yet to be understood, some regions of the country are being particularly hit hard with the H1N1 swine flu pandemic and are having to close schools because of the high rate of illness. Only a hundred miles away, however, another city might be only experiencing mild rates of illness. Also, some school systems and local health agencies have already vaccinated a large number of people while other school systems and local health agencies had not planned on ordering a significant amount of vaccinations this early in the flu season. As a consequence, the severity of the H1N1 swine flu is expected to continue to vary significantly from one area to another. Increasingly, however, more and more people know someone who has been sick with the swine flu - or have become sick themselves. As an example, AOL's reporter for the H1N1 swine flu recently reported that he and his children have all come down with the H1N1 swine flu while it is believed that his wife had been sick with the H1N1 swine flu. As another example, my mother who is a nurse as a co-worker who had a child that had to be hospitalized with what is believed to have been the H1N1 swine flu. One really begins to appreciate how many people are ill with the H1N1 swine flu when one goes to a hospital or one's doctor's office and one sees all the individuals there ill with the flu - and one is told first-hand stories of how many sick people the doctors and hospitals are currently treating with the H1N1 flu. Some doctors are reporting seeing as many as 40 or more patients a day ill with the flu.

CDC Reports That Already 1 In 5 Students Have Contracted Swine Flu

The CDC reports that since the school season began in September, one out of every five students have thus far contracted the H1N1 swine flu, resulting in millions of school children that have thus far been infected. It also reports that the number of infected cases doubles about every 10 days.

First Congressman Comes Down With H1N1 Swine Flu

Mr. Greg Walden, a congressman from Oregon, has announced through representatives that he has contracted the H1N1 swine flu. Mr. Walden is the first congressman to contract the H1N1 swine flu.

CDC States That Extent of Flu This Early In Season Is Unprecedented

During an interview on C-Span3 today, Dr. Beth Bell, Deputy Chief Health Officer for the H1N1 flu for the CDC stated that the amount of H1N1 swine flu being experienced this early in the flu season is unprecedented. Typically, this early in the flu season one does not see the amount of flu cases currently being experienced. Almost all of the flu cases thus far experienced have been of the H1N1 swine flu variety. Meanwhile, during congressional testimony yesterday, the CDC indicated that there are significant shortages of the H1N1 swine flu vaccine as production has lagged behind what was the hoped for amount to be available by now.

H1N1 Swine Flu Is Causing Serious Illness and Deaths Among Healthy Individuals

The World Health Organization has stated that one thing that is becoming increasingly clear about the H1N1 swine flu - which is it's ability to cause serious illness and deaths among otherwise very healthy individuals. Experts stress that most people who contract the H1N1 swine flu will become only mildly ill. But some adults and young people, and especially women, are becoming extremely ill "at an unexpectedly rapid pace and are dying in unusually high numbers." "It's not like seasonable flu," Nikki Shindo of the World Health Organization said at a meeting in Washington, D.C. "It can cause very severe disease n previously healthy young adults." What is particularly troubling is how, in a select number of cases, the disease penetrates deep into the tissues of the lungs, causing death or intensive care hospitalizations that can last up to three months. This makes it more similar to the deadly Avian Flu which similarly attacks lung tissue than the normal seasonal flu which only affects the upper respiratory system. "It's like the avaian flu on steroids," said Sherif Zaki, chief of Infectious Disease Pathology at the CDC. The World Health Organizations' warning came as the CDC reported that the death toll from the H1N1 swine flu among children has risen to 86, well over the total number of pediatric deaths one would expect for an entire year from the seasonal flu, even though the current spike in the H1N1 swine flu has only been ongoing for about three weeks now. Also, it now appears that as many as half of the adults hospitalized for the H1N1 swine flu have been otherwise totally health adults. An example is the case of Karen Ann Hays of Sacremento, California, an otherwise healthy 51 year old adult female whose hobby was participating in triathlons. Despite desperate measures taken to treat her, she died in July within days of contracting the swine flu. Another example is the case of 30 year old Stacey Hernandez of Madison, California, who died of the H1N1 swine flu in July. She "was in great shape. She was on the softball teams. She had two young children. She was reovating her house," said her mother. The Washington Post reports that according to medical researchers, it appears that about 1 percent of those individuals contracting the H1N1 swine flu require hospitalization, between 12 to percent of those hospitalized required intensive care, and 15 to 40 percent of those in intensive care die from the H1N1 swine flu. Meanwhile, the CDC reports significant delays in the manufacture of the H1N1 swine flu vaccination. The CDC also reports that at least 2,914 people in the U.S. have died from flu-related illness (i.e. probably the H1N1 swine flu) since the H1N1 swine flu epidemic began. Testing has shown that approximately 99 percent of people who have been tested for the H1N1 swine flu - have had the H1N1 swine flu - with it appearing that almost all current cases of the flu are the H1N1 swine flu at this point in the flu season.

Severe Shortage of Both Seasonal and H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccines

Because drug companies have been trying to produce both seasonal and H1N1 swine flu vaccines, the CDC has reported a severe shortage of both - with quantities of both being significantly less than expected. Most areas are reporting that providers have run out of season flu vaccines just as many families are seeking to have their family members vaccinated.

Basketball Star LeBron James Latest Individual to Contract Swine Flu

Cleveland Cavalier basketball star Le Bron James has just returned to practicing after recovering from what is believed to have been the H1N1 swine flu. At least 2 other team members are believed to have also contracted the H1N1 swine flu.

86 Pediatric Deaths Thus Far From Swine Flu - 50 Deaths Last Week

The CDC has reported a total of 86 pediatric deaths thus far from the H1N1 swine flu and a total of 50 deaths from the H1N1 swine flu during the past week. The number of pediatric deaths frome the swine flu in just the past two weeks exceeds the number of pediatric deaths typically experienced in an entire flu season. Some doctors are reporting the treating of as many as 40 H1N1 swine flu patients per day. At this rate, one prediction is that there will be approximately 90,000 total deaths in the U.S. from the H1N1 swine flu this winter, compared to the 36,000 deaths that occur in a normal flu season.

Shortage of Swine Flu Vaccine - More Severe Than Expected

The CDC has reported that there are significant delays in the delivery of the swine flu as the manufacturer of the H1N1 swine flu vaccine has not been able to deliver as many doses as expected. Totally, there is expected to be 10-11 million less doses of the swine flu vaccine available than had been expected by the end of this month. Also, contrary to previous indications, half of adults hospitalized for the swine flu have been otherwise healthy and have not had underlying health conditions. Medical experts report significantly more cases of influenza cases than normal for this time of year - with the number of cases similar to the peak of a typical influenza season. 99 percent of current cases of the influenza have been determined to be the H1N1 swine flu.