U.S. Pediatric Deaths 4/1/10 - 418

[JimO]

I started a tally of pediatric deaths by state this week. It was the most difficult thing I've done so far because I had to go through all the posts for most states and count each child. But, along with Treyfish's dead children thread (thanks for that Treyfish), I think this is important. It seems like just yesterday that there were fewer than a hundred deaths total in the U.S. and now we're well over that for just the children. It breaks my heart for 110+ families out there. I have four sons from 11-18 and I cannot even think about it.

Please help me keep this current. In some cases I couldn't verify the ages of all the deaths in a given state, so I might be missing some. If you know that my number is wrong, please post a correction. For several states I still only have a partial number (as noted).

Texas has been particularly hard hit. Pediatric deaths are 28% of the total reported.

Just to clarify, I'm counting confirmed H1N1 deaths in children under 18 yrs. This list doesn't include P&I deaths unlest H1N1 was confirmed. Obviously, this will be more difficult to track going forward.

Alabama 1
Alaska 1
Arizona 7
Arkansas 2
California* 22
Colorado 3
Connecticut 1
Delaware 0
Florida 8
Georgia 1
Hawaii 1
Idaho 0
Illinois 3
Indiana 0
Iowa 0
Kansas 2
Kentucky 1
Louisiana 2
Maine 0
Maryland 2
Massachusetts 1
Michigan 0
Minnesota 1
Mississippi 2
Missouri 1
Montana 0
Nebraska 0
Nevada 0
New Hampshire 0
New Jersey 3
New Mexico 2
New York 9
North Carolina 1
North Dakota 0
Ohio 1
Oklahoma 1
Oregon 1
Pennsylvania* 0
Rhode Island 1
South Carolina 3
South Dakota 0
Tennessee 4
Texas 15
Utah* 2
Vermont 0
Virginia 1
Washington 1
Washington, D.C. 0
West Virginia 0
Wisconsin 3
Wyoming 0
American Samoa 0
Puerto Rico** 0
Virgin Islands 0
Guam 0

Total 110

* Only a partial count
** I couldn't find age information for Puerto Rico deaths

[Rainbow Lake]

Thank you for posting this JimO.

It is so very important for parents to have this feedback. There is clearly lag time in the states reporting to the CDC. The most recent CDC update (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/) reports 128 child deaths for the entire 2008-2009 flu season with 60 of those 128 being due to A(H1N1). They report 14 pediatric (0-17 yrs) deaths since 30 August 2009.

Clearly this differs considerably from your heartbreaking count of 110.

[JimO]

Originally Posted by Rainbow Lake

Thank you for posting this JimO.

It is so very important for parents to have this feedback. There is clearly lag time in the states reporting to the CDC. The most recent CDC update (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/) reports 128 child deaths for the entire 2008-2009 flu season with 60 of those 128 being due to A(H1N1). They report 14 pediatric (0-17 yrs) deaths since 30 August 2009.

Clearly this differs considerably from your heartbreaking count of 110.

I'm tracking deaths before and after 9/1 and at least 50 deaths have occurred in the last month. I can't be exactly sure because I haven't been able to sort through California in detail. The DoH reports 20 pediatric H1N1 deaths out of 174 total. Their count is way behind. LA is the only county reporting pediatric and total deaths. Of the 55 deaths in LA, 4 are children occurring since 9/1, but I don't know much beyond that. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say there are more than 30 pediatric deaths in California to date. I hope to have a clearer picture by Monday.

[Niko]

Thank you so much for doing this JimO. What a huge job! Maybe this will help to convince a few officials and/or parents if we can give them some real numbers.

[hawkeye]

JimO Well done.

[JimO]

Five more in three days , plus I went through all the California media reports and identified two more; however, I could not determine the age of approximately 30 individuals who are not accounted for in the State's number of pediatric deaths (which is currently 20).

As a clarification, some states are identifying pediatric deaths as those from 0-18 years. I had previously stated that the list below was only confirmed H1N1 deaths under 18. I need to modify that to say that it is confirmed and suspected H1N1 deaths (but not P&I deaths) and that the list does include the 18-yo college freshman from the University of Miami (Ohio), but I believe all the rest are <18.

Alabama 1
Alaska 1
Arizona 7
Arkansas 2
California* 24
Colorado 3
Connecticut 1
Delaware 0
Florida 8
Georgia 1
Hawaii 1
Idaho 0
Illinois 3
Indiana 0
Iowa 0
Kansas 2
Kentucky 1
Louisiana 2
Maine 0
Maryland 2
Massachusetts 1
Michigan 0
Minnesota 3
Mississippi 2
Missouri 1
Montana 0
Nebraska 0
Nevada 0
New Hampshire 0
New Jersey 3
New Mexico 3
New York 9
North Carolina 1
North Dakota 0
Ohio 1
Oklahoma 2
Oregon 1
Pennsylvania 0
Rhode Island 1
South Carolina 3
South Dakota 0
Tennessee 4
Texas 15
Utah 2
Vermont 0
Virginia 1
Washington 1
Washington, D.C. 0
West Virginia 1
Wisconsin 3
Wyoming 0
American Samoa 0
Puerto Rico** 0
Virgin Islands 0
Guam 0

Total 117

* California is still considered a partial number
** No data from Puerto Rico

[Farmer]

Very useful JimO. Thank you for your time and effort!

[JimO]

Please note that I reduced the numbers in Texas after finding a more detailed surveillance report that broke out earlier seasonal flu pediatric deaths from H1N1 deaths. With the adjustments, there have still been several additional pediatric deaths reported since yesterday. Very sad. I hope school closures are seriously considered in the coming weeks.

Pediatric hospitalizations and ICU admissions are up sharply in the hardest hit areas, and the death rate for hospitalized cases is 5-10%, while that for ICU cases is up to 25%.

Alabama 1
Alaska 1
Arizona 7
Arkansas 3
California* 25
Colorado 3
Connecticut 1
Delaware 0
Florida 8
Georgia 1
Hawaii 1
Idaho 0
Illinois 3
Indiana 0
Iowa 0
Kansas 2
Kentucky 2
Louisiana 2
Maine 0
Maryland 2
Massachusetts 1
Michigan 0
Minnesota 3
Mississippi 2
Missouri 1
Montana 0
Nebraska 0
Nevada 0
New Hampshire 0
New Jersey 3
New Mexico 3
New York 9
North Carolina 1
North Dakota 0
Ohio 1
Oklahoma 2
Oregon 1
Pennsylvania 0
Rhode Island 1
South Carolina 3
South Dakota 0
Tennessee 5
Texas** 12
Utah 2
Vermont 0
Virginia 1
Washington 1
Washington, D.C. 0
West Virginia 1
Wisconsin 3
Wyoming 0
American Samoa 0
Puerto Rico*** 0
Virgin Islands 0
Guam 0

Total 118

*California total is still consider partial
**Texas total reduced due to several deaths being from seasonal flu earlier in the year
***No data for Puerto Rico

[JimO]

to Jmom who provided a link to another site where someone is keeping a detailed list of pediatric deaths. After reconciling that list with mine and finding some duplications on my list, as well as cases that I had not counted, the following is up to date as of 7 pm. The increase is partly due to missed cases on my part, but there have still been a significant number of new deaths reported in the past couple of days. It is profoundly sad.

Alabama 2
Alaska 2
Arizona 7
Arkansas 3
California 26
Colorado 3
Connecticut 1
Delaware 0
Florida 10
Georgia 1
Hawaii 1
Idaho 1
Illinois 2
Indiana 1
Iowa 0
Kansas 2
Kentucky 1
Louisiana 2
Maine 0
Maryland 2
Massachusetts 1
Michigan 0
Minnesota 3
Mississippi 3
Missouri 1
Montana 0
Nebraska 1
Nevada 0
New Hampshire 0
New Jersey 3
New Mexico 3
New York 8
North Carolina 2
North Dakota 0
Ohio 1
Oklahoma 2
Oregon 1
Pennsylvania 0
Rhode Island 1
South Carolina 3
South Dakota 0
Tennessee 7
Texas 16
Utah 3
Vermont 0
Virginia 1
Washington 1
Washington, D.C. 0
West Virginia 1
Wisconsin 4
Wyoming 0
American Samoa 0
Puerto Rico* 0
Virgin Islands 0
Guam 1

Total 134

* No age data from Puerto Rico

[JimO]

I'm trying to reconcile my count of pediatric deaths in California with those from CDC and other sources. The following is from California's surveillance report for the week ending 9/23/09:

Age information for Fatal Cases

Median (years): 45
Mean (years): 42
Min - Max: <1 to 85 years
0-18 years: 20 (12%)

Source: http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/vrdl...date092309.pdf

Using this number, plus four deaths in Los Angeles County in their two most recent reports and two others from media reports, I have a total of 26. The 20 pediatric deaths reported above are from a total of 174 deaths reported by California. Given that the total number of California deaths is over 230, I am guessing that 26 is an underestimate. If anyone has any additional information on this, I'd appreciate it.

It is also notable that pediatric deaths account for 12% of all H1N1 deaths.

I'm not at my usual PC, so I don't have my current spreadsheet available to post the tally, but the total is 140, six more than yesterday.

[JimO]

This list is current as of Louisiana's report of six deaths that included two children.

Alabama 2
Alaska 2
Arizona 7
Arkansas 2
California 26
Colorado 6
Connecticut 1
Delaware 0
Florida 10
Georgia 4
Hawaii 1
Idaho 1
Illinois 3
Indiana 1
Iowa 0
Kansas 2
Kentucky 1
Louisiana 4
Maine 0
Maryland 2
Massachusetts 1
Michigan 0
Minnesota 3
Mississippi 3
Missouri 1
Montana 0
Nebraska 1
Nevada 0
New Hampshire 0
New Jersey 3
New Mexico 3
New York 10
North Carolina 2
North Dakota 0
Ohio 1
Oklahoma 2
Oregon 1
Pennsylvania 0
Rhode Island 1
South Carolina 3
South Dakota 0
Tennessee 7
Texas 16
Utah 3
Vermont 0
Virginia 1
Washington 1
Washington, D.C. 0
West Virginia 1
Wisconsin 4
Wyoming 0
American Samoa 0
Puerto Rico* 0
Virgin Islands 0
Guam 1

Total 144

*No age data for deaths in Puerto Rico.

[Missouriwatcher]

While CDC is saying 76. "Federal health officials said 76 children have died from the H1N1 flu..." cdcinfo@cdc.gov

[janetney]

my Lord...according to CDC there's usually 44+- to 88 deaths of children from flu each year...144 is unbelievable...i'm stunned...

[JimO]

Originally Posted by janetney

my Lord...according to CDC there's usually 44+- to 88 deaths of children from flu each year...144 is unbelievable...i'm stunned...

Keep in mind that the 144 total does not include the seasonal flu deaths for 2008-09 and I have no age information for the 36 deaths in Puerto Rico or about 50 of the California deaths. So, the total number of pediatric flu deaths for the season is likely over 200.

[Treyfish]

Hi,CDC! AREN'T YOU GLAD SOMEBODY IS TELLING THE TRUTH? Please come and dispute these numbers..

[hawkeye]

145

a new death in Ohio today.

Another Ohio H1N1 Death Reported
Friday, October 9, 2009 8:34 AM
Updated: Friday, October 9, 2009 11:10 AM

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus Public Health Department confirmed Friday that a 14-year-old Columbus boy died from complications of H1N1 influenza.

Jon Fowler died from complications of the virus on Thursday at Nationwide Children's Hospital, ONN affiliate WBNS-10TV News reported.

[JimO]

I had the University of Miami-Ohio student (18-yo) on the list, but removed him due to reports that he did not have H1N1. However, a child subsequently died in Ohio, so the Ohio total stands at 1. But, that represents 6 new deaths since the last tally. This is nearly double the 76 deaths being widely reported.

Alabama 2
Alaska 2
Arizona 7
Arkansas 2
California 26
Colorado 6
Connecticut 1
Delaware 0
Florida 10
Georgia 4
Hawaii 1
Idaho 1
Illinois 3
Indiana 1
Iowa 0
Kansas 2
Kentucky 1
Louisiana 4
Maine 0
Maryland 2
Massachusetts 1
Michigan 0
Minnesota 3
Mississippi 3
Missouri 1
Montana 0
Nebraska 1
Nevada 0
New Hampshire 0
New Jersey 3
New Mexico 3
New York 10
North Carolina 2
North Dakota 0
Ohio 1
Oklahoma 2
Oregon 1
Pennsylvania 0
Rhode Island 1
South Carolina 3
South Dakota 0
Tennessee 7
Texas 20
Utah 3
Vermont 0
Virginia 2
Washington 1
Washington, D.C. 0
West Virginia 1
Wisconsin 4
Wyoming 0
American Samoa 0
Puerto Rico* 0
Virgin Islands 0
Guam 1

Total 149

[Dr.Beltran]

Do you have the ethnic profile of these deaths?

[JimO]

No. In fact, it's been tough just finding out whether they are under 18. Some states are showing the number of deaths from 0-4 and from 4-24. I have gender data on some, but not all and ages for even fewer.

[Chuck]

There is ethnic information on the first 36 pediatric deaths in the MMWR surveillance report on Sept. 4.

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5834a1.htm

[JimO]

Four more since yesterday. I fear that the number in Week 40 may be even higher than we saw in Week 39. Our count shows around 20 in the past seven days.

Alabama 2
Alaska 2
Arizona 7
Arkansas 2
California 26
Colorado 7
Connecticut 1
Delaware 0
Florida 10
Georgia 5
Hawaii 1
Idaho 1
Illinois 3
Indiana 1
Iowa 0
Kansas 2
Kentucky 1
Louisiana 4
Maine 0
Maryland 2
Massachusetts 1
Michigan 0
Minnesota 3
Mississippi 3
Missouri 1
Montana 0
Nebraska 1
Nevada 0
New Hampshire 0
New Jersey 3
New Mexico 3
New York 10
North Carolina 2
North Dakota 0
Ohio 1
Oklahoma 2
Oregon 2
Pennsylvania 0
Rhode Island 1
South Carolina 3
South Dakota 0
Tennessee 8
Texas 20
Utah 3
Vermont 0
Virginia 2
Washington 1
Washington, D.C. 0
West Virginia 1
Wisconsin 4
Wyoming 0
American Samoa 0
Puerto Rico* 0
Virgin Islands 0
Guam 1

Total 153

*Still no age data from Puerto Rico

[JimO]

Nine more in three days

This is still close to 15% of the confirmed deaths. What concerns me is the uncertainty with respect to California. When the State was reporting 176 deaths, they reported 20 pediatric H1N1 deaths. I found four more since that time in the LA County surveillance data, and three in media reports. So, we have no indication as to how many of the other approximately 75 deaths in California are children. If the overall percentage is any indicator, it could be as many as ten more.

On the other hand, the CDC MMWR reports suggest that there are many fewer pediatric deaths than the state reported, but, of course, they don't differentiate between seasonal and H1N1. Furthermore, no pediatric deaths have been reported in California by the CDC since Week 32. I know that at least LA County has had four since then, based on their surveillance data. So, I a very confused about California and would still qualify the total below.

Alabama 2
Alaska 2
Arizona 8
Arkansas 2
California 27
Colorado 7
Connecticut 1
Delaware 0
Florida 10
Georgia 5
Hawaii 1
Idaho 1
Illinois 3
Indiana 2
Iowa 0
Kansas 2
Kentucky 1
Louisiana 4
Maine 0
Maryland 2
Massachusetts 1
Michigan 0
Minnesota 3
Mississippi 3
Missouri 2
Montana 0
Nebraska 1
Nevada 0
New Hampshire 0
New Jersey 3
New Mexico 3
New York 10
North Carolina 2
North Dakota 0
Ohio 1
Oklahoma 3
Oregon 2
Pennsylvania 0
Rhode Island 1
South Carolina 3
South Dakota 0
Tennessee 8
Texas 23
Utah 3
Vermont 0
Virginia 2
Washington 1
Washington, D.C. 0
West Virginia 1
Wisconsin 5
Wyoming 0
American Samoa 0
Puerto Rico* 0
Virgin Islands 0
Guam 1

Total 162

[Missouriwatcher]

According to TX State Health Dept, there have been 16 pediatric deaths from H1N1 up through week 40. (Of note, age 18 is considered adult, so pediatric deaths are counted as 0-17 years of age)

"Influenza-Associated Pediatric Mortality
One influenza-associated pediatric death was reported during week 40. The child was an 11-year-old resident of HSR 2/3 with significant underlying medical conditions. The child was not vaccinated for influenza for the current season. Texas has reported one influenza-associated pediatric fatality during the 2009–10 influenza season. There were 15 influenza-associated pediatric deaths reported from April 26, 2009 to October 3, 2009." http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/idcu/dis...CurrentFlu.pdf

[JimO]

Originally Posted by Missouriwatcher

According to TX State Health Dept, there have been 16 pediatric deaths from H1N1 up through week 40. (Of note, age 18 is considered adult, so pediatric deaths are counted as 0-17 years of age)

"Influenza-Associated Pediatric Mortality
One influenza-associated pediatric death was reported during week 40. The child was an 11-year-old resident of HSR 2/3 with significant underlying medical conditions. The child was not vaccinated for influenza for the current season. Texas has reported one influenza-associated pediatric fatality during the 2009–10 influenza season. There were 15 influenza-associated pediatric deaths reported from April 26, 2009 to October 3, 2009." http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/idcu/dis...CurrentFlu.pdf

I noticed that. I got my count from media reports posted for Texas. I will have to go back and double check. I'm having the same problem with California, except that the state and county data don't agree with CDC.

[GardenSpider]

Swine flu hits hard, early _ claims 11 more kids

by The Associated Press

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=104973774

Excerpt:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about half of the child deaths since September have been among teenagers.

And overall for the country, deaths from pneumonia and flu-like illnesses have passed what CDC considers an epidemic level.

The CDC's Dr. Anne Schuchat (SHU'-kit) says, "These are very sobering statistics."

This new strain is different from regular winter flu because it strikes the young far more than the old, and child deaths are drawing particular attention. Eighty-six children have died of swine flu in the U.S. since it burst on the scene last spring — 43 of those deaths reported in September and early October alone, said CDC's Dr. Anne Schuchat.

That's a startling number because in some past winters, the CDC has counted 40 or 50 child deaths for the entire flu season, she said, and no one knows how long this swine flu outbreak will last. Half of those early fall child deaths are among teenagers, also surprising as preschoolers are thought to be most vulnerable.

[Missouriwatcher]

TN should be one more.

"The 30 deaths include nine children, Tennessee Department of Health spokeswoman Shelley Walker confirmed to The Daily News Friday." http://www.memphisdailynews.com/edit....aspx?id=45488

[JimO]

I did a quick check and in addition to the 16 reported by the state (including the 11-yo from Week 40), there have been five reported in the media since then: 4-yo, 5-yo and three teenagers. That brings the total to 21. I will do a more exhaustive review, but, the other two could be an error on my part, 18-yo deaths, or a combination. I'll report back when I figure it out. Thanks for the posts. It's getting tough to keep up.

[JimO]

I created a spreadsheet and here is a summary:

Name - Gender - Age - Location

Miguel Tejada Vaszquez - M - 23 mos - Cameron County/Brownsville
Unknown - F - 12 yr - Fort Bend County
Unknown - M - 13 yr - Hidalgo County
Unknown - M - 14 yr - Travis County
Unknown - ? - Premature Infant - Bexar County
Alfie Watson - M - 14 yr - Bexar County
Unknown - F - 3 yr - Dallas County
Cynthia Garcia - F - 11 yr - Dallas County
Unknown - M - 14 yr - Unknown
Diamauri Hobbs - M - 6 yr - Bowie County/Texarkana
Unknown - ? - 8 mos - Dallas area
Unknown - ? - 3 yr - Houston area
Krista Mahan - F - 12 yr - Nueces County
Unknown - ? - 25 days - Houston area
Montrell Harris - M - 9 yr - Smith County
Lana Trinh - F - 16 yr - Dallas County
Chloe Lindsey - F - 14 yr - Tarrant County
Nathanial Anderson - M - 11 yr - Dallas County
Catherine Gibson - F - 5 yr - Travis County
Michael Soliz - M - 14 yr - Fisher County
Jose Sepulveda - M - 16 yr - Houston area
Yeimi Sierra Reyes - F - 4 yr - Fort Worth
Unknown - M - teen - Hays County

That is a total of 23; however, the last fatality was not in my earlier count. I removed the following because I could not confirm it:

Unknown - ? - 13 yr - Health Services Region 9/10

So, I removed one and added the latest fatality, so the total is back to 23. I don't have an age for the last teen on the list, but I believe he was younger than 18. We have ages on the rest and all are younger than 18.

[Shiloh]

There was another child that died in Fort Bend Co.:

Fort Bend County Health Department Spokesman David Whamoe said someone between the ages of 10 and 18 died in May, and a child between 0 and 6 months died in September.

[vt.mathgirl]

Jim, thanks so much for your time and effort. It seems that this is finally making the news, the 76 dead headline even made our local paper last week - incorrect and understated, but still it may wake people up.
What are you using as a start date for your count?