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Child flu deaths likely to rise in coming weeks, expert says

Greene County Memorial Hospital pharmacist, Jennifer Johnson gets her H1N1 flu shot Thursday, Oct. 22, at Greene County fairground. Medical first responders were given the shot. Another clinic will be offered Thursday, Oct. 29.

Jim Noelker/Staff photographer Greene County Memorial Hospital pharmacist, Jennifer Johnson gets her H1N1 flu shot Thursday, Oct. 22, at Greene County fairground. Medical first responders were given the shot. Another clinic will be offered Thursday, Oct. 29.

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Photos: H1N1 vaccinations given

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By Lawrence Budd, Staff Writer Updated 12:16 AM Friday, October 23, 2009

DAYTON — The pediatric death toll in the U.S. linked to the H1N1 virus is expected to top 100 today, Oct. 23 and continue to grow for at least six weeks, according to the ranking expert at the Children’s Medical Center of Dayton.

In the wake of the death of Springboro boy, Dr. Thomas Murphy said Thursday. “We’re going to see that number continue grow until this particular epidemic begins to wind down.”

Currently, the hospital is seeing 150 to 200 new cases a day, Murphy said. He estimated the rash of cases would persist for six to eight weeks.

Murphy pointed out that 35,000 Americans a year die from seasonal flu.

The Springboro boy, 5-year-old Joseph J. Marotta, died Sunday after nine days at the Dayton hospital. He tested positive for H1N1 and was diagnosed with pneumonia, but the official cause of death has yet to be determined.

Murphy said the Centers for Disease Control updates each Friday the numbers of deaths — as of Oct. 9, the number of children’s deaths linked to H1N1 was 86.

H1N1, after disappearing from the U.S. in the spring, began showing up again in early September — about a month before the vaccine. Murphy said production of the vaccine, after testing, was the fastest he’d seen in 35 years in infectious disease prevention.

Meanwhile, the virus was spreading, primarily through coughing and sneezing from those infected.

“This isn’t something you’re going to be able to control,” Murphy said.

Murphy, who’s been inoculated, emphasized the vaccine is “safe and effective.”

“The best protection is to immunize as many people as possible,” he said. “Beyond that, you can’t really do much to stop the spread of the infection.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2261 or

lbudd@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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Hey dale1 you need to check your facts because more people have died of h1n1 in one month then have died of regular flu in three months!!

Jenny
9:56 PM, 10/25/2009

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The CDC is distributing the vaccine to states based on each state’s population; i.e., a state that has 2 percent of the U.S. population will receive 2 percent of the doses shipped to one of 150,000 distribution centers around the country. “We are working with these 11 nations through the WHO to help get the vaccines to countries particularly who can’t purchase them,” Sebelius said. “I mean, that’s really the issue -- the countries who don’t have the wherewithal to purchase vaccines.”

Leslie
3:24 PM, 10/23/2009

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The federal government is currently 10 million doses shy of the 40 million doses of H1N1 influenza vaccine it said would be available to the American public by the end of October. Nevertheless, the Department of Health and Human Services says it will go ahead with its plan to donate 10 percent of all doses it receives to countries around the world. Sebelius is not concerned that the donations could lead to Americans who want to be vaccinated not having access to the vaccine.

Leslie
3:22 PM, 10/23/2009

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Dale - please check your facts before you post. It is true that so far, seasonal flu tends to kill more people. HOWEVER, over 90% of those people are over age 65. HALF of the people dying from this flu are between the ages of 25 and 64. MANY do not have underlying health conditions. Pregnant women are at a higher risk than the general population. PLEASE take time to read facts from professional medical journals and not just take 10 second media blurbs as the whole truth.

Chris
3:21 PM, 10/23/2009

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This is ridiculous. Way more people die each year from the regular flu. This flu is supposed to be more mild than the regular flu. The people that are dying are the high risk people that have other serious issues.

dale1
3:07 PM, 10/23/2009

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