U.S. health officials say the H1N1 virus could infect up to 40 percent of Americans in the next two years if a vaccine campaign isn’t successful—and seniors are not on the priority list to receive these vaccinations.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates mean that about twice the number of people who usually get sick in a normal flu season would be infected with swine flu, according to the Wall Street Journal. This could translate into hundreds of thousands of fatalities if the vaccine isn’t widely distributed.
Other information about the H1N1 flu, according to Wall Street Journal reports:
- The World Health Organization says that as many as 2 billion people could become infected over the next two years—nearly one third of the world population.
- First identified in April, H1N1 flu has likely infected more than 1 million Americans.
- There have been 302 deaths and nearly 44,000 reported cases.
As previously reported by ALFA Update:
- Swine flu appears to be deadliest to people 65 and older, with deaths in more than 2 percents of older people infected.
- The average age of swine flu patients is 12; the average age for hospitalized patients is 20; and for individuals who have died, it was 37.
- The United States has roughly half of the world’s swine flu cases, with nearly 280,000 reported to the CDC so far. The U.S. count includes 3,065 hospitalizations and 127 deaths.
Here are resources from ALFA that include strategies for protecting residents from swine flu and seasonal flu:
• Pandemic Swine Flu Adviser
• ALFA’s Executive Insights (Case Study) – “The Path of Best Resistance.” Two senior living executives weigh in on a scenario about protecting residents from seasonal flu.
View more ALFA Update articles!
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