Over 4000 H1N1 Swine Flu deaths in the USA


The New York Times reports that new CDC H1N1 death statistics that will be released Nov 12-19, 2009 will be about 4000 deaths This is up from prior estimates of 1200 H1N1 deaths in the USA. The actual release date of the updated estimates depends upon the completion of further review.

The larger number of deaths does not mean the virus is more dangerous. Rather, it is a new estimate made by combining deaths from laboratory-confirmed cases of the flu and deaths that appear to be brought on by flu, even though the patient may have ultimately died of bacterial pneumonia, other infections or organ failure.

A much higher death rate would mean more drastic measures to keep people apart and could mean, for example, adding immune-boosting adjuvants to the vaccine so more people could get it.