Swine flu sends mostly under-25s to hospital: CDC
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Half of those hospitalized with the new H1N1 virus are under 25, a clear illustration that the pandemic is affecting the young disproportionately, U.S. health officials said on Tuesday.
They said reports from 27 U.S. states show 53 percent of people sick enough to be hospitalized with H1N1 flu are under the age of 25, with only 7 percent of hospitalizations among people 65 and older.
“This is really, really different from what we see with seasonal flu,” the CDC’s Dr. Anne Schuchat told reporters. “With seasonal flu, about 60 percent of hospitalizations occur in people 65 and over.
She stressed the report was incomplete but said if anything, it was underestimating the extent of the pandemic.
And an analysis of 292 deaths from 28 states showed that younger people than usual are also dying, she said.
“Almost a quarter of deaths are occurring in young people under the age of 25. Specifically, 23.6 percent of the deaths are in that age group. About 65 percent of the deaths are in people 25 to 64 years of age,” Schuchat said.
Just 12 percent of deaths were among people over 65. In a normal year, 90 percent of those who die from flu are over 65.
With cooler weather, other viruses and infections are showing up, making the picture confusing.
Schuchat said influenza is being diagnosed in about 30 percent of all people showing up with “influenza-like illness,” symptoms that include cough, sore throat, fever and aches.
Almost all influenza is turning out to be H1N1 rather than seasonal influenza and Schuchat said the tests often miss cases of H1N1, so the percentage may be higher.
Ordinary colds, group A streptococcus, which causes “strep throat”, and other infections can cause similar symptoms.
The U.S. government is trying to vaccinate people against both seasonal influenza and H1N1 at the same time, making both vaccines available as manufacturers finish, bottle and get them approved batch by batch.
Five companies make both types for the U.S. market: Sanofi-Aventis SA, CSL Ltd, Novartis AG, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca unit MedImmune.
Schuchat said H1N1 vaccine was becoming available slowly.
“As of yesterday, 12.8 million doses were available for the states to order. More than half of that was available in the injectable form. So that’s helpful, with giving us a variety of formulations,” she said.
She said states had ordered 10.8 million doses so far.
(Editing by Doina Chiacu)
Swine Flu Still Strikes Younger People Hardest
90 percent of deaths since Sept. 1 were among those under 65, CDC says
TUESDAY, Oct. 20 (HealthDay News) — The H1N1 swine flu epidemic continues to strike younger people, a U.S. health official said Tuesday, noting that nearly 90 percent of deaths since Sept. 1 were among those under 65 years of age.
“This is dramatically different than what we see with seasonal flu,” Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases
, said during a press conference. “For seasonal flu, 90 percent of fatalities occur in people 65 and over — it’s almost completely reversed here,” she said.
“Essentially this is a young person’s disease,” Schuchat added. “We don’t have reporting from every single state and we know we are missing cases, so the numbers will be underestimates, but it can be helpful in illustrating some of the patterns we are seeing.”
According to data collected from 28 states from Sept. 1 to Oct. 10, nearly 24 percent of deaths were among people under age 25, about 65 percent of deaths were among those 25 to 64, and only 11.6 percent of the deaths were among people 65 and older, she said.
“Each one of these cases is tragic for the family and hard for us in public health to see,” she added.
Schuchat said she expects the swine flu epidemic to continue throughout the winter and into the spring, and wouldn’t be surprised to see a renewed outbreak later in the season.
“We do think there will be illness, including severe illness, for some time in the future,” she said. “We may see in any particular community some illness going down in the next several weeks, but we don’t know whether it’s going to go up again.”
Schuchat noted that during the 1957-1958 Asian flu pandemic there was an outbreak in September and October, but “they had another big wave after the first of the year.”
Meanwhile, the H1N1 swine flu vaccine remains in short supply. Last week federal officials said there had been delays in producing the vaccine, and the goal of 40 million doses by the end of October would be missed.
Schuchat has said in the past that the federal government expects 190 million doses of H1N1 swine flu vaccine by the end of the year.
As of Monday, a total of 12.8 million doses had been received by the U.S. government, up from 9.8 million doses last week. More than half of those vaccines are injectable; the remainder is in the form of a nasal spray known as FluMist, she said.
“I understand and share everyone’s desire to have more vaccine. I wish that we had more than we have right now, but we do have more coming out every day,” Schuchat said.
During the six-week period ending Oct. 10, 27 states had reported 4,958 people hospitalized with H1N1 swine flu. More than half — 53 percent — of those hospitalized were people under the age of 25. Thirty-nine percent were 25 to 54 years of age, and only 7 percent of hospitalizations involved people 65 and older, Schuchat said.
Schuchat also said new guidance on the use of antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu stresses the need to start treatment early and not wait for confirming tests, especially among children, pregnant women and those most at risk for complications from the swine flu.
Schuchat also urged people to get their seasonal flu shot. Eighty-two million doses of seasonal flu vaccine have been distributed, with a total of about 114 million doses expected through the rest of the season, she said.
More information
For more information on H1N1 swine flu, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Swine Flu Virus Continues to Hit Young Hardest
WASHINGTON–The H1N1 influenza virus continues to disproportionately affect young people, according to new government figures released Tuesday.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention involving 4,958 hospitalizations from the H1N1 virus, also called swine flu, showed 53% of the cases were in people age 24 and younger. Another 39% were in people ages 25 to 64, and 7% in people age 65 and older. (In the remaining 1% of cases the age was unknown.)
The hospitalizations were reported by 27 states from Aug. 30 through Oct. 10.
CDC also looked at 292 deaths reported by 28 states during the same time period. Of the deaths, 24% were in people age 24 and younger; 64% in those ages 25 to 64, and 12% in people age 65 and older.
“This is really, really different from what we see with seasonal flu,” said Anne Schuchat, the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 60% of hospitalizations and 90% of deaths related to seasonal influenza occur in people age 65 and older.
The hospitalization figures largely track what was seen in the spring when the H1N1 virus was first discovered. Health officials believe many older Americans have some sort of immunity to the H1N1 virus from past exposure to similar viruses.
H1N1 vaccine for the U.S. market is being made by five manufacturers, although the manufacturing process is taking longer than federal health officials had anticipated. So far about 12.8 million doses have been made available for states to order from the federal government. Officials had hoped that 40 million doses would be out by the end of the month.
Ms. Schuchat said more H1N1 vaccine is being made available each day but acknowledged that demand is currently outstripping supply. She also noted that in some places there are shortages of seasonal vaccine. About 82 million out of an expected 114 million doses of seasonal vaccine have been distributed. Previously, manufacturers had hoped to produce 118 million doses.
The U.S. has purchased H1N1 vaccines and enough bulk ingredients from manufacturers to make up to make a total of 251 million doses. The vaccines are being distributed to states and some large cities, which in turn will distribute the vaccines to about 90,000 health-care providers, retailers and local health departments over a period of several weeks.
New York City officials said Tuesday that schools will start vaccinating students against swine flu next week. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said the vaccine will be offered for free at all city elementary schools, public and private, starting Oct. 28. Children must have a signed consent form from parents or guardians.
Swine Flu Deaths Take 90% of Toll Among Young People (Update3)
By Pat Wechsler and Tom Randall
Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) — Almost 90 percent of 292 deaths related to swine flu in the U.S. since Sept. 1 were in people younger than age 65, contrary to the pattern for seasonal flu, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
In a typical season, the majority of deaths are among people older than 80, Anne Schuchat, head of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Atlanta-based CDC, said today in a conference call.
Almost 5,000 people in 27 states covered by the report have been hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed H1N1 influenza since Sept. 1, and more than 53 percent are younger than 25, Schuchat said.
“This is a young person’s disease,” Schuchat said. The number of deaths among younger Americans “is really, really different from what happens with the seasonal flu. It is tragic for the family and hard for us in public health to see.”
The disease is now widespread in 41 states, and the mortality rate has surpassed the threshold for an epidemic, according to the agency.
H1N1 vaccine distribution is behind schedule, Schuchat said. There are 12.8 million doses available, compared with 9.8 million a week earlier, according to the CDC. States have ordered 10.8 million doses. Previous estimates from U.S. health officials called for as many as 50 million doses available for shipping before the end of the month.
“It probably feels like a slow start for everybody,” Schuchat said. “We’re not cutting any corners in the testing and safety of this vaccine.”
First Doses
The first doses available are being given to health-care workers, children, pregnant women and people with chronic conditions that put them at risk for complications. More than half of the vaccine available is the injectable form. Most adults, including the elderly, should wait until additional supplies arrive, the CDC has said.
New York City public schools are sending home information packets and consent forms this week so students can get free vaccinations for swine flu, starting Oct. 28, said Zoe Tobin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
The city is on schedule to receive 1.2 million doses of the vaccine by the end of the month. It will get 2 million more doses in November and again in December, Tobin said. That supply will be divided among schools and health-care providers.
Student Vaccinations
Elementary school students are supposed to get the first doses, Tobin said. There are 470,000 students in preschool through sixth grade in the city schools, according Marge Feinberg, a spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Education.
Middle and high school students, who will have to wait until November and December, will receive the vaccine on weekends at designated distribution centers in each of the city’s five boroughs, Feinberg said. There are 1.1 million students in the school system, she said.
“Last spring, in May and June, the swine flu numbers were huge,” said Melissa Stockwell, a pediatrician at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. “This year there hasn’t been much so far. But kids are always at risk when it comes to any kind of flu, which is why we recommend getting both a swine flu and seasonal flu shot.”
Schuchat said more doses of seasonal flu vaccine are becoming available, with 82 million delivered and 114 million expected. The seasonal-flu period won’t kick in until December, she said.
New info shows swine flu still hardest on young
By MIKE STOBBE (AP) – 2 hours ago
ATLANTA — Swine flu continues to be most dangerous to kids and younger adults and is largely bypassing the elderly, according to the latest and most solid government health information.
Health officials on Tuesday released figures for swine flu hospitalizations and deaths for the seven weeks since the beginning of September. The information comes from 28 states.
It showed more than half of all hospitalizations were people 24 and younger; more than a quarter were ages 5 to 18 years.
“Essentially, this is still a young person’s disease,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Swine flu deaths were concentrated in young and middle-aged adults. A third of all deaths were people ages 25 through 49; another third were 50 to 64.
Only 12 percent of deaths occurred in elderly. That’s a stark contrast to the roughly 90 percent of deaths in the elderly from seasonal flu, Schuchat said at a Tuesday press conference.
“It’s almost completely reversed,” said Schuchat, who heads the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
The figures are similar to what the CDC saw in the spring, she said.
Many people 55 and older have some degree of immunity to the swine flu virus, perhaps from exposure decades ago to a similar virus or vaccine. But the ability of the swine flu virus to attack deep in the lungs seems to also make it more dangerous to some of the younger people who are infected, CDC officials say.
The latest figures show about 5,000 hospitalizations in 27 states for lab-confirmed swine flu, and about 300 deaths in 28 states. Not all states report lab-confirmed swine flu cases to the CDC; some report “influenza-like illnesses” that may include cases caused by other kinds of viruses.
The count did not include a breakdown of how many were pregnant or had other health problems that put them at higher risk for severe complications.
The CDC does not have an exact count of all the U.S. swine flu deaths and illnesses since the virus was first identified in April, but the agency says more than 800 have died, including at least 86 children. Millions of Americans have been infected, although many probably suffered only mild illness, CDC officials say.
Swine flu ‘a disease of the young’
New data on hospitalizations and deaths caused by the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus show that it is “a disease of the young,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a news conference this morning. From Sept. 1 to Oct. 10, there were 4,958 hospitalizations from laboratory-confirmed swine flu in the 27 states reporting to the CDC, said Schuchat, who is director of the agency’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. More than half of those cases, 53%, were in people under age 25; 39% were in those age 26 to 64 and only 7% were in those age 65 and over. With seasonal flu, in contrast, 60% of hospitalizations are in patients 65 and over.
The disparity is even worse for fatalities. During the same time period, there were 292 deaths from swine flu in the 28 states reporting. In that group, 23.6% occurred in people under age 25, 65% in people 25 to 64 and only 11.6% in those 65 and over. “That is dramatically different from seasonal flu, in which 90% of the fatalities occur in those over 65,” Schuchat said.
The difference, most researchers now suspect, is caused by the fact that the elderly have been exposed to a swine-related virus in the past and that has produced some residual immunity, so that they are less likely to be infected and are not as severely affected when they do contract it. Younger people have no such immunity.
Schuchat said CDC is emphasizing the use of antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu in people with severe illness who have underlying health conditions or who are pregnant. “If you suspect flu in these groups, give the antiviral,” she said. “We don’t want to wait for laboratory confirmation.” She also noted that physicians should not be fooled by a negative finding on a rapid test for flu because they are relatively inaccurate. If a patient is sick, “don’t believe a negative rapid test,” she said.
As of Monday evening, there were 12.8 million doses of swine flu vaccine available, more than half of them the injectable form. About 10.8 million doses had been ordered by states.
– Thomas H. Maugh II
