Weekly 2009 H1N1 Flu Media Briefing
October 01, 2009, 12:00 p.m.
http://www.cdc.gov/media/transcripts/2009/t091001.htm
Audio recording (MP3)
Glen Nowak: Thank you all for joining us today, whether you’re on the phone or here in person. Today’s update on the influenza situation in the United States will be conducted by Dr. Anne Schuchat. She’s the Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Schuchat will give us an update on the seasonal flu, H1N1flu, and vaccine supply. So I will turn the podium over to Dr. Anne Schuchat.
Anne Schuchat: Thanks for joining us for today’s press conference. I want to talk about three main things today. Where are we with flu, where are we with the antivirals, and where are we with the vaccines, particularly the H1N1 vaccines.
In terms of the disease activity right now, we expect tomorrow in our weekly update of FluView that we’ll be reporting substantial flu illness in most of the country, significant flu activity in virtually all states. Most states do have quite a lot of disease right now, and that’s unusual for this time of year. We’re able to give a little bit of an update about the H1N1 influenza disease in pregnant women. I know that’s been an interest to a lot of people. We’ve updated our numbers, and through late august, we can report that about 100 pregnant women in the United States have required intensive care unit hospitalization for H1N1 flu. Sadly, 28 pregnant women in the U.S. have died so far from the H1N1 influenza. These are really upsetting numbers, I know. And I just want to remind women and doctors and nurse midwives that antiviral medicine can be a very important treatment for pregnant women who have respiratory illness.
Chinese mainland swine flu patients near 16,000
Source: Xinhua | 2009-9-26
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=415004&type=National
THE Chinese mainland confirmed 1,387 new cases of the swine flu in the 48 hours ending 3 pm yesterday, bringing the total number to 15,968, according to the Ministry of Health.