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Volume 7, Issue 10S
May 21, 2009 |
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Novel H1N1
It has been approximately six weeks since the world
first noted a new strain of Influenza A, currently labeled as Novel H1N1
influenza. From escalating numbers of illnesses and fatalities first observed
in Mexico,
this illness has spread to 40 countries with over 10,000 confirmed cases. There
have been eighty deaths reported, six of these occurring in the United
States, according to the World
Health Organization. In the United
States, over 5,400 cases have
been documented, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. Anne Schuchat, CDC's Interim Deputy Director for Science and Public Health
described these cases as "the tip of the iceberg" and said that as many as
100,000 individuals may be infected in the United
States.
Initially, most cases and fatalities were
individuals who traveled to Mexico
or had association with someone who had. Increasing numbers of individuals,
however, are contracting this illness with no identifiable source. Currently,
the level of transmission in the United
States is primarily
community-based with the majority of cases having no history relevant to travel
in Mexico
or interaction with those that have. The range of age is from five to
fifty-five years of age.
In many instances, fatalities have occurred in either
previously ill individuals or those with significant chronic illness, although
many of the Mexican fatalities were young and otherwise healthy individuals who
died from pneumonia after contracting the flu.
The current round of infection is thought to be the
first wave of this illness. We may see additional waves of this strain in the fall
which have the potential to be more virulent. |
