The outbreak began in Mexico, with evidence that there had been an ongoing epidemic for months before it was officially recognized as such.
Health officials said Friday that 76 U.S. children have died ofswine flu, including 19 new reports in the past week — more evidencethe new virus is unusually dangerous for the young.
The regular flu kills between 46 and 88 children a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.That suggests deaths from the new H1N1 virus could dramatically outpacechildren’s deaths from seasonal flu, if swine flu continues to spreadas it has.
CDC officials say 10 more states, atotal of 37, now have widespread swine flu. A week ago, reportssuggested that cases might be leveling off and even falling in someareas of the country, but that did not turn out to be an enduringnational trend.
“We are seeing more illness, more hospitalizations, and moredeaths,” the CDC’s Dr. Anne Schuchat said at a press conference Friday.
The new virus, first identified in April, is a global epidemic. The CDCdoesn’t have an exact count of all swine flu deaths andhospitalizations, but existing reports suggest more than 600 have diedand more than 9,000 have been hospitalized. Health officials believemillions of Americans have caught the virus.
Thevirus is hitting young people harder. Experts believe older people aresuffering from it less, perhaps because they have a bit of immunityfrom exposure over the years to somewhat similar viruses.