Dec 10, 2009 (CIDRAP News) – Another month's worth of data on
H1N1 influenza has led federal officials to more than double
their estimates of total cases, hospitalizations, and deaths and
to assert that the impact on children and younger adults has
been far greater than that of a typical flu season. After
analyzing data for the weeks from Oct 18 through Nov 14, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that
47 million people, or about 15% of the population, have been
infected and 9,820 have died in the pandemic. That compares with
estimates of 22 million cases and 3,900 deaths issued Nov 12 and
covering the period from April through Oct 17. The new estimate
of hospitalizations is 213,000, compared with 98,000 a month
ago. "By Nov 14, many times more children and younger adults,
unfortunately, have been hospitalized or killed by H1N1
influenza than happens in a usual flu season," CDC Director Dr.
Thomas Frieden said in a news briefing today. The additional
weeks covered in the latest repor