Severe H1N1 Swine Flu Up in South

[HuckleB]

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/news/20100329/severe-h1n1-swine-flu-up-in-south

"H1N1 swine flu hospitalizations in Georgia have returned to October levels, triggering a nationwide CDC warning that too many at-risk people have not been vaccinated.

The Georgia findings today spurred the CDC to hold its first national news teleconference in weeks. During the height of the pandemic, the CDC scheduled two or three such news conferences weekly.

"Georgia had more than 40 hospitalizations from lab-confirmed H1N1 influenza this past week, and for the third week in a row had more of these than anywhere in the country," Anne Schuchat, MD, director of the CDC's respiratory disease center, said at the news conference.

Two other Deep South states bordering Georgia -- Alabama and South Carolina -- are still seeing regional outbreaks of H1N1 swine flu. Eight other states, six of them in the South, and Puerto Rico are still experiencing localized outbreaks. Most of the rest of the country is seeing only sporadic cases as of the March 20 surveillance report.

..."

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There's no apparent to the virus in that area. Vaccination could help.

[MineralMan]

1. I wonder if the vaccination rate is lower in the southern states?

Or is it the temperature? I remember that this flu broke out in Mexico. Interesting.

I also know that the H1N1 vaccine went begging up here after the number of cases dropped off. I got mine the day it was generally available.

[kestrel91316]

2. This virus doesn't follow the usual pattern. So who knows what it will do?

Glad I got the H1N1 vaccine. I don't need to be killing my patients.