Swine Flu Statistics on Deaths, Hospitalizations
So far, almost 10,000 deaths can be attributed to swine flu in the U.S. To break it down further, the CDC reports 7,500 H1N1 deaths in young adults and 1,100 in kids. Approximately 1 in 6 Americans have contracted it overall.
UK Research Backs Up Evidence that H1N1 Less Serious Than Thought
It’s more dangerous than seasonal flu, though not by much, but reread that first link. H1N1 is proportionately worse for young people, who rarely die during normal flu seasons.
Still no word/predictions/indication that we’ll face a third wave. . .
Cancer Drug May Help Steroid-Resistant Asthmatics
Doctors use R-Roscovitine to kill cancer cells, and now researchers are testing the drug to see if it can kill off extra, inflamed eosinophils in breathing passages in the same way. Which makes a lot of sense, even to my non-scientist brain.
That’s all for today since I’m running late. If you’ve read or written anything this week, leave it in the comments.
I wasn’t sure what to post this under but we have an issue I wanted to tell you about. My daughter, who just turned 25, has fought many years of asthma since infancy. She became ill with bronchitis earlier in October and after not using antibiotics(because of hive-related reactions) since she was 13 years old, she took a course of Cipro. It took about two weeks to recover. It had been many scary years of hoping she could battle any illnesses without the use of antibiotics and we were lucky for this long. But we still worry about the NEXT time…
Now she is in a new flare of coughing has not yet responded to the steroids she was prescribed 4 days ago. I think she needs to get re-evaluated on her meds which have been the same since grade school – singular and zyrtec nightly and albuterol as needed. Here is the problem that has arisen and it is causing a dispute among family members.
On Saturday, her fiance went to the free H1N1 clinic and was given the FluMist instead of the shot. He did not realize there was an issue about the possibility of shedding the live virus. I have been very upset that he not be around my daughter because she is on the Predisone and in full flare. I have been causing alot of grief in my concerns over the exposure she will have if they are together. I realize its the Holidays and they are in the midst of preparing for a Spring wedding but I am so afraid for my daughters health. I am angry that these health-care workers are not telling the vaccine recipients about the possible dangers of shedding the virus. They should EXPLAIN what it means to expose the shedded virus to those whose health is compromised. FluMist states on its website that viral bodies can be shed from the vaccinated individual for 21 days! That’s an awful long time to worry about possibly catching the virus. She has a seven year old asthmatic daughter who already had pneumonia and several viruses in the past three months. So I am concerned for her too. I do not want to cause friction between my loved ones but I have nursed my daughter AND my little grand-daughter through too many scary episodes this year already. I would appreciate any insight you or your readers have on this. Is this as worrisome as it seems to me?
That’s tough one, and I’m not sure–I’ve posted your question today to see if any readers have better information than me on this one:
http://www.theasthmamom.com/2009/12/15/tuesdays-are-your-turn-h1n1-flumist-and-viral-shedding/
I’m hoping someone out there has a strong enough grasp of this subject to provide you with a good answer!
This not an answer to your question, but if your daughter or granddaughter does contract swine flu, and winds up in the hospital, make sure that your doctor can order peramivir, which has saved a lot of lives in ICU. There are news stories on the web about its effectiveness–apparently it works amazingly successfully, and very fast, on some 90% of the heavy-duty swine flu patients who receive it.
While I have no information on the shedding, your post came in a very timely manner for me; I have an appointment for the swine flu shot on Friday, and I am very glad to know that the shot and mist act differently in this way. I expect to be around family members, three of them children, who have asthma, during the holidays, and I wouldn’t want to take the risk, now that you’ve raised the issue.