CDC: Estimated 22 million Americans sick from influenza A (H1N1) during six months of pandemic

An estimated 22 milllion people in the United States became ill from influenza A (H1N1) during the first six months of the pandemic and as there are several more months of influenza season to go, vaccination of certain groups, particularly patients with chronic conditions, is key, according to the CDC’s director of immunization and respiratory diseases.

Anne Schuchat, MD, said that the estimates are based on data from the Emerging Infections Program Network. She said that based on data from this surveillance system of hospitalized patients, CDC officials estimate about 98,000 people have been hospitalized and 3,900 have died from this illness so far. Of that number, about 540 were children.

Until now, the CDC had conservatively put the U.S. mortality associated with this strain of influenza at “more than 1,000,” and had reported on 129 laboratory-confirmed deaths in children. The surveillance data are helping CDC officials paint a more accurate picture of total morbidity and mortality associated with this illness, Schuchat said.

The figures track from April to Oct. 17, and suggest the number of hospitalizations range from 63,000 to 153,000 and deaths range from 2,500 to as high as 6,100. Schuchat said the illness has affected all age groups, with adults ages 18 to 64 making up about 12 million cases and seniors about 2 million cases.

Schuchat said the new figures reemphasize the importance of getting the vaccinations to high-risk groups, such as children and adults with chronic conditions like diabetes. She noted that November is American Diabetes Month and she said that it is important for patients with diabetes and other chronic conditions to get vaccinated to protect themselves, even if efforts to obtain the vaccine have been difficult. She said about 12% of all hospitalized patients seen have had chronic conditions, and of those, about 19% of those patients have diabetes.

So far, about 41.6 million doses of the vaccine are available, Schuchat said, which is far less than manufacturers had projected by this time. However, she said, more “vaccine is being ordered and delivered very day.” — by Colleen Zacharyczuk