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JAMA casts doubt on H1N1 effect on older Americans
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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been saying all along that the H1N1 is a virus that most affects young children, teens and pregnant women.
As a result, as vaccines for the virus become available, the CDC has been discouraging older Americans from getting the vaccine, encouraging them to make way right now for the at-risk populations.
But an article yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association casts some doubt on the CDC guidelines, noting a high fatality rate in California among people 50 and older.
Researchers studied 1,088 hospitalized and fatal cases due to H1N1 pandemic reported in California, between April 23 and August 11, 2009.
"In the first 16 weeks of the current pandemic, the median age of hospitalized infected cases was younger than is common with seasonal influenza. Infants had the highest hospitalization rates and persons aged 50 years or older had the highest mortality rates once hospitalized. Most cases had established risk factors for complications of seasonal influenza," the JAMA said in an abstract.
However, as the CDC has been saying all along that there are some underlying health conditions that the H1N1 virus can exacerbate among people of all ages.
This seemed to be confirmed in the JAMA findings, as reported by Science Daily: "Underlying conditions previously associated with severe influenza were reported in 68 percent of cases. Other underlying medical illnesses recorded included obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and gastrointestinal disease. The median length of hospitalization among all cases was 4 days."
The CDC hasn't budged from its recommendations.
As of yesterday, its recommendations for who be prioritized to receive the vaccine "include pregnant women, people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age, healthcare and emergency medical services personnel, persons between the ages of 6 months and 24 years old, and people ages of 25 through 64 years of age who are at higher risk for 2009 H1N1 because of chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems."
For more information:
JAMA video on H1N1 among older people
Related story:
Wait your turn, Baby Boomers
