Just to be clear, that graph is supposed to represent the total deaths in the zero to 17 year old age group.
It’s an interesting set of statistics, because it raises some very interesting questions.
1. If this group represents one of the two most vulnerable groups to influenza, then what must the numbers be for the group that is less vulnerable?
2. If one of the two most at risk groups only has a mortality rate of 75 or so people on average, then how high can the total number of deaths be?
3. If the total number of deaths is only 500 or less each year, how can hospitals across the nation be filled with influenza patents each year, and have a number of those patients pass away?
4. How can there be literally thousands of hospitals in this nation, all of them having influenza patients, a few to significantly more who die, and yet there only be a very insignificant number of people who die?
You post this figure from the CDC, but get upset when I post the CDCs projection that 36,000 people die each year from Influenza and complications related to contraction of Influenza.
Do you think the CDC is lying when they say the young are a high risk group? Do you think the CDC and the NIH would waste their time on Influenza each year, if the numbers were as small as you seem to think they are?
What’s your rationale to explain the CDC and NIH’s actions each year concerning their advice to get the vaccines?
There could be a shortage of hospital beds in 15 states if 35% of Americans get sick from the H1N1 (swine) flu virus, and 12 other states could reach or exceed 75% of their hospital bed capacity, a study released Thursday shows.
The number of people who could get sick with H1N1 flu in the United States ranges from a high of 12.9 million in California and a low of 186,434 in Wyoming, and the number of people who are hospitalized could range from a high of 168,025 in California to a low of 2,485 in Wyoming, according to the report from the non-profit group Trust for America’s Health.
The 15 states that could be at capacity or exceed hospital bed capacity are: Arizona (117 percent); California (125 percent); Connecticut (148 percent); Delaware (203 percent); Hawaii (143 percent); Maryland (143 percent); Massachusetts (110 percent); Nevada (137 percent); New Jersey (101 percent); New York (108 percent); Oregon (107 percent); Rhode Island (143 percent); Vermont (108 percent); Virginia (100 percent); and Washington (107 percent).
The 12 states that could be at 75% to 99% of hospital bed capacity are: Colorado (88 percent); Florida (80 percent); Georgia (78 percent); Maine (83 percent); Michigan (79 percent); New Hampshire (84 percent); New Mexico (93 percent); North Carolina (95 percent); Pennsylvania (77 percent): South Carolina (93 percent); Utah (83 percent); and Wisconsin (75 percent).
The estimates were created using the FluSurge model developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The country’s much more prepared than we were a few short years ago for a pandemic, but there are some long-term underlying problems which complicate response efforts, like surge capacity and the need to modernize core public health areas like communications and surveillance capabilities,” Jeff Levi, executive director at Trust for America’s Health, said in a news release.
more at link:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-10-03-swine-flu-hospitals_N.htm