Swine-flu death toll doubles; 1 in 6 Americans have had flu

Dec 11, 2009, 1:46 GMT

Washington - Swine flu has claimed an estimated 10,000 lives in the United States, more than double the estimated death toll in November, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Thursday.

The H1N1 virus has infected about 50 million people, or one in six Americans, as of November 14.

The fatalities include about 1,100 children and 7,500 younger adults, who continue to be the most vulnerable to the H1N1 virus, said Thomas Frieden, director of the government CDC.

'That's much higher than in a usual flu season,' Frieden said.

The death figure over the last seven months had more than doubled from the estimated 3,900 deaths in mid November, which was a six- month total.

CDC had counted more than 200,000 hospitalizations by November 14, an amount normally not reached until the end of the seasonal flu season in early spring.

'As we've seen for months, this is a flu that is much harder on younger people and fortunately has largely spared the elderly until now,' he said.

Frieden expressed concern about the high 'burden of influenza' among the American Indian and Alaskan native populations.

The death rate is about four times higher in the 12 states where about half of the native American population resides.

'This is most likely largely a reflection of environmental factors and underlying conditions like diabetes and asthma that are more common (and poorer) access to health care, rather than genetic or race ethnicity difference,' Frieden said.

The US government has prioritized the still-scarce H1N1 vaccine for such populations, Frieden said.