More than 1M Americans with swine flu

The 27,000 Americans confirmed to have the swine flu is just the tip of the iceberg, the CDC revealed this weekend. Instead, more than one million Americans have already been infected with the A (H1N1) influenza virus, or swine flu. And it’s not letting up just yet.

One million Americans infected with (H1N1) swine flu virus.

“The novel H1N1 influenza is continuing to spread here in the United States and around the globe.  What we’re seeing is varying by region in the United States and in different countries.  The key point is that this new infectious disease is not going away.  In the U.S., we’re still experiencing a steady increase in the number of reported cases. (CDC)

Of the reported 27,717 lab-defined cases, 127 have died. Most of those who have gotten sick were people under 50 years old, and the median age of those who died is 37 years old, which too young for someone to be dying of flu. And according to Anne Schuchat of the CDC, there may actually be more than one million cases of the swine flu in the US, but the agency is “not tracking every single one of them”.

Although the vast majority have been very mild cases of swine influenza, having that many number of people sick is still a grave concern. At any given day, that’s the number who can also transmit the virus to someone else. And unfortunately, a flu virus can be transmitted anytime between one day before any symptoms appear to a week after.

I had a scary bout with the flu last week when my 18-month old had a 102-degree fever over three days and then started to have chills that night. We rushed him to the emergency room at 2 a.m. and asked for a flu test. That God he was negative for any virus, but it was scary because I couldn’t know for certain what his symptoms were about.

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