Swine Flu Could Infect Half Of United States Population
Posted on Aug 26, 2009 by Reena Daruwalla | Comments 0
One of the most widely circulated stories on the internet recently about the H1N1 Swine Flu virus pandemic is that the US presidential panel has given a grim portend of the Swine Flu crisis that its likely impact on the population of United States. In a doleful prophecy, it is being predicted by President Barack Obama’s science advisers that the virus could infect as much as half of the US population this fall and winter and cause up to 90,000 deaths.
According to a Bloomberg report, the Swine flu may hospitalize 1.8 million patients in the U.S. this year, filling intensive care units to capacity and causing “severe disruptions” during fall resurgence.
The worry is that hospitals could face severe disruptions due to the swine flu. Up to 80% ICU facilities may be required for swine flu cases, forcing hospitals to put off elective surgeries such as heart bypass or hernia operations. There is now pressure to speed up the process of producing vaccines to ease this burden on the public and private health care system.
According to the adviser report, the virus may “produce infection of 30-50 percent of the US population this fall and winter, with symptoms in approximately 20-40 percent of the population (60-120 million people), more than half of whom would seek medical attention,” and went on to say that it “could cause between 30,000 and 90,000 deaths in the United States, concentrated among children and young adults.”
Meanwhile in India, the death toll from swine flu continues to mount, and has now reached the number of 67 deaths. New positive identifications of infection by the virus continue to come to light daily and the swine flu death toll in the country continues to rise.
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Posted in: H1N1 • Swine Flu News • World
