H1N1 status update- Spike in outpatient visits, good match between H1N1 vaccine and circulating virus
There are more cases of influenza like illness this year than expected. Also the number of deaths are higher than expected for this time of year. 69% of the 12,900 samples sent to the reference labs are positive for 2009 H1N1. Remember that most of these samples are from persons ill enough to be hospitalized. This does not report all infected cases as ambulatory persons are not being screened due to overwhelming demand for tests. The vast majority of cases probably do not need hospitalization. Therefore the number of cases of H1N1 likely to be much higher.
Almost all isolates of 2009 H1N1 are showing a good match to the current vaccine. Remember that the virus does tend to have high mutation rate making 100% coverage difficult.
For the most part H1N1 is showing susceptibility to Oseltamivir (Tamiflu).
Total number of pediatric deaths is now 95 cases nation wide for 2009 H1N1.
See the graph showing the unusual spike in outpatient visits for influenza like illness towards the right of the graph.
Remember to get your vaccination.
