foodconsumer.org: SOME young people at high risk of H1N1 flu

SOME young people at high risk of H1N1 flu
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admin on 10/21/2009 01:54:00
 
Top officials at The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at a
conference today that the 2009 novel H1N1 virus hits young people hardest.
Reports from 27 states show 53 percent of patients hospitalized with H1N1 flu
were under the age of 25. In comparison, only seven percent were at the age of
65 years or older.  In contrast, seasonal flu affects more elderly people than
the young.
Analysis of 292 deaths reported from 28 states shows that younger people than
usual are also dying, Dr. Anne Schuchat at the CDC was cited by Reuters as
saying.
Schuchat said quoted by Reuters "Almost a quarter of deaths are occurring in
young people under the age of 25. Specifically 23.6 percent of the deaths are in
that age group. About 65 percent of the deaths are in people aged 25 to 64."
About 12 percent of the deaths occurred in people over 65.  Normally, 90 percent
of those who die from flu are over 65, Reuters reported.
Reuters is probably one of the few news outlets that reported the number of
deaths.  Webmd.com and healthday.com did not report it while they focused on the
percentages giving readers some impression that the H1N1 flu is deadly to the
young.
To be fair, this 2009 novel H1N1 flu or swine flu is more dangerous to the young
than the old.
However, the risk is not the same to every person under 25. Early data from the
CDC indicate that about 30 percent of deaths occurred in apparently healthy
children while 70 percent of the deaths were in children with severe underlying
medical conditions.
Of the apparently healthy children who died, most were non-white like Hispanics.
A New York physician has reported recently that Hispanic children are mostly of
vitamin D deficiency, which has been linked to increased risk of flu.  A recent
TRIAL has proved that pregnant women taking 4,000 IU of vitamin D3 reduced their
risk for flu!!!
It is too bad that H1N1 killed some children who had already suffered other
chronic health conditions. However, compared to other risk factors, the H1N1
virus is mild and its death risk is tiny.  So far about 90 children died from
H1N1 flu or its complications.
Getting to know some data on deaths from other causes may make worried people
feel a bit better.
In the U.S. about 30,000 infants younger than 6 months or 0.6 percent infants in
that age group die each year from all causes. According to the U.S. Department
of Transportation's National Highway Traffic safety Administration, 43,200
people died from motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2005.
In each mainstream news report, following the counting of high rates of deaths
and hospitalizations in the young people are the information on the H1N1
vaccine.
Most if not all news reports remind readers to get vaccinated against both
seasonal flu and H1N1 viruses.  Almost none reported the efficacy and safety of
the H1N1 vaccine.  The CDC has said that the making of the H1N1 vaccines is
similar to the way the seasonal flu vaccine is made and thus this H1N1 vaccine
is safe.  In terms of the efficacy, the government health agency said that it
EXPECTS that the  vaccine is similar to the seasonal flu vaccine, whose efficacy
rarely exceeds 45 percent, according to some sources.
The vaccines made by four drug companies Sanofi-Aventis SA, CSL Ltd, Novartis
AG, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca unit MedImmune have been tested in thousands
of healthy people and found to induce immune response pretty well in the older
people.  Too bad, the vaccines have been  tested only in HEALTHY individuals who
are actually not at high risk of this H1N1 virus.  Too bad that the H1N1 flu
vaccines could not induce strong immune response in younger people who are
actually at the high risk.  That is why young people need two shots instead of
one.
To be fair, H1N1 vaccines may work for some people.  But no one including the
CDC can guarantee that any recipient of the H1N1 vaccine would have been
prevented from contracting the flu.  Worst of all, you can't sue the drug
companies should some incident triggered by the vaccination occur to you as the
companies are protected by law and they are not reliable for any injury
resulting from the vaccination.
By David Liu
Related articles:
SERIOUS VACCINE REACTIONS TO NOW BE CALLED \\'COINCIDENCE\\'?
2009 H1N1 FLU VACCINE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
SWINE FLU DEATHS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
BLACKS, HISPANICS AT HIGHER RISK FOR SWINE FLU