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Source: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20091124/NEWS01/311240069/H1N1+toll+in+Cincinnati+detailed
H1N1 toll in Cincinnati detailed
By Peggy O?Farrell ? pofarrell@enquirer.com ? November 24, 2009
H1N1 flu has likely claimed two lives in Cincinnati, and made more than 20,000 residents sick, health officials said Tuesday.
Steve Englender, director of emergency preparedness for the Cincinnati Health Department, said the pandemic flu strain had also caused more than 350 hospitalizations among city residents.
Englender and other health officials updated City Council?s Health, Education and Environment Committee on the H1N1 vaccination campaign Tuesday.
Numbers related to H1N1 flu?s impact are a little fuzzy, Englender said, because testing is rarely performed now to confirm what particular flu strain may have sickened adults, and local health departments aren?t required to report flu-related deaths to the state unless a child is involved.
Because it?s still early in the flu season, flu-related illness and death is assumed to be H1N1, he said.
In Ohio, 33 H1N1-related deaths have been reported, including three children, said Kristopher Weiss, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Health. That number is likely higher, he said, but he couldn?t speculate by how much.
As of Tuesday, the department had vaccinated more than 26,000 children and adults against the pandemic flu strain, said health commissioner Noble Maseru. The city has ordered 110,000 doses of vaccine from the Ohio Department of Health, and gives it out almost as soon as it comes in, Maseru said.
Vaccine is still available only for people considered at highest risk for catching and developing complications from H1N1 flu, Maseru said. The strategy for immunizing those people first is twofold, he said:
-It offers protection to the most vulnerable.
-It helps prevent them from spreading the virus to the rest of the community.
Englender said vaccine may be available for healthy adults before Christmas.
H1N1 toll in Cincinnati detailed
By Peggy O?Farrell ? pofarrell@enquirer.com ? November 24, 2009
H1N1 flu has likely claimed two lives in Cincinnati, and made more than 20,000 residents sick, health officials said Tuesday.
Steve Englender, director of emergency preparedness for the Cincinnati Health Department, said the pandemic flu strain had also caused more than 350 hospitalizations among city residents.
Englender and other health officials updated City Council?s Health, Education and Environment Committee on the H1N1 vaccination campaign Tuesday.
Numbers related to H1N1 flu?s impact are a little fuzzy, Englender said, because testing is rarely performed now to confirm what particular flu strain may have sickened adults, and local health departments aren?t required to report flu-related deaths to the state unless a child is involved.
Because it?s still early in the flu season, flu-related illness and death is assumed to be H1N1, he said.
In Ohio, 33 H1N1-related deaths have been reported, including three children, said Kristopher Weiss, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Health. That number is likely higher, he said, but he couldn?t speculate by how much.
As of Tuesday, the department had vaccinated more than 26,000 children and adults against the pandemic flu strain, said health commissioner Noble Maseru. The city has ordered 110,000 doses of vaccine from the Ohio Department of Health, and gives it out almost as soon as it comes in, Maseru said.
Vaccine is still available only for people considered at highest risk for catching and developing complications from H1N1 flu, Maseru said. The strategy for immunizing those people first is twofold, he said:
-It offers protection to the most vulnerable.
-It helps prevent them from spreading the virus to the rest of the community.
Englender said vaccine may be available for healthy adults before Christmas.