AP Photo/Charles Krupa
Upstate New York escaped without any Swine Flu deaths in the Spring 2009 wave of this pandemic flu. The Fall 2009 has brought far more illnesses and, now, deaths.
In the period of September 1, 2009, through November 7, 2009, the New York State Health Department reports 4 pediatric and 12 adult deaths from the Swine Flu or its complications. Ontario County reports the deaths of two adults with underlying medical conditions. A child died from the illness in Genesee County. Warren County had an adult death and Albany County an adolescent death in the past week. Niagara County had its first related death, in an adult.
New York State is reporting the level of this pandemic in several ways. In labs statewide for the week ending November 7, over 4,000 specimens tested positive for the A flu virus, 99% of those testing positive for flu. At the state laboratory, 43 of 45 specimens tested positive for Swine Flu.
The state is also tracking visits to hospital emergency departments for influenza like illnesses (ILI). In the Western Region, including the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Corning and Elmira, the rate was 19.8% of all emergency department visits. This was a 10% increase from the preceding week and a new peak for the year.
The Central New York Region, including the large military base at Fort Drum and the cities of Syracuse and Binghamton had a 19.1% ILI rate. That is an 8% increase from the preceding week and a new peak for the year.
The Capital Region is the area with the highest reported ILI visit rate in the state, 22.5%. That is a 15% percent increase from the previous week and nearly double the rate from two week prior.
The Hudson Valley Region and Long Island have much lower rates though the Hudson Valley is now just above a 10% rate. During the Spring wave of Swine Flu, this region reached a peak of 14% of visits to emergency departments for ILI.
New York City rates remain much lower than the rest of the state. There is no data at this time suggests a recurrence of the outbreak from the Spring wave.
452 patients are recorded as being hospitalized in New York State outside of the City for flu and flu complications. That is a 44% increase from the prior week. 54% of these patients were under the age of 24.
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