Long lines for vaccines (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
After months of statistics and numbers relating to the swine flu virus, the Centers for Disease Control admits it was very wrong about the fatality numbers relating to the virus. Instead of the 1000 or so deaths previously reported, federal officials now claim that over 4000 people have died from the swine flu virus in the U.S. since it first appeared in April.
The discrepancy in the numbers reported does not bring cause for panic. However, it does mean the CDC and other health agencies are becoming more accurate in their reporting of the illness and related deaths. The new numbers now include those who have died from pneumonia complications, bacterial infections, and organ failure after contracting the swine flu.
There is still disappointment and frustration in receiving the swine flu vaccine, which the CDC has stressed as our best defense against the virus. Production and distribution of the vaccine has been very limited and thus far the country is well short of the 120 million doses first estimated by the CDC. Production has picked up however, with 41 million vaccine doses delivered or available across the country as of this week. Federal officials hope to have almost 75 million doses available nationwide by the end of the year. The CDC estimates that millions of Americans have already contracted the virus since April.
In Metro Detroit, Beaumont Hospital is providing a 24-hour H1N1or swine flu hotline that will be staffed by registered nurses. The hotline comes at a time when concerns about the virus is high in the state of Michigan. So far, 28 people have died and 924 people have been hospitalized from the swine flu. More than half a million people in Michigan have had the flu this year.
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