Flu Still Getting You Week 9

Still not telling, the District of Columbia is hitting their second week of not reporting the number of deaths in the jurisdiction as the numbers rise and fall in the surrounding areas. While the situation of preventable deaths aren't at their height as the weather starts to become more moderate so does the numbers of deaths from flu and or pneumonia rises and falls in the reported areas.

Our source of information for all things flu are, of course, derived from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which reported for the ninth (9) week of 2010 that:

"The proportion of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza (P and I) based on the 122 Cities Report increased very slightly over last week but remains low. One flu-related pediatric death was reported this week associated with an influenza B virus infection that occurred in February 2009.

2010 FLU DEATHS by Jurisdiction THIS Week LAST Week YTD 2010 YTD 2009 YTD 2008 YTD 2007 District of Columbia Baltimore, MD Charlotte, NC Richmond / Norfolk, VA U 19 9 8 U 20 12 6 11 152 106 55 12 150 74 69 12 153 115 57 9 131 115 61 TOTALS (Week 9) 36 38 324 305 337 335

Since April 2009, CDC has received reports of 329 laboratory-confirmed pediatric deaths: 277 due to 2009 H1N1, 50 pediatric deaths that were laboratory confirmed as influenza A, but the flu virus subtype was not determined, and two pediatric deaths that were associated with seasonal influenza viruses. (Laboratory-confirmed deaths are thought to represent an undercount of the actual number. CDC has provided estimates about the number of 2009 H1N1 cases and related hospitalizations and deaths. No states reported widespread influenza activity. Four states reported regional influenza activity." - CDC

Activity isn't our concern so much as deadly affects. That we have a treatment and can resist the deadly effect of H1N1 flu and yet individuals in any area are still being affected concerns us greatly. That individuals aren't getting inoculated we can understand we don't support it and will continue to report the deaths primarily because they're currently preventable and treatable. To know that there is a treatment and it can be prevented and not be prepared is an unnecessary risk that we don't understand or support.

The numbers of the deceased, as reported to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), from all causes again unreported from the District of Columbia for a the second week in a row. This is consistent with the activities of the city for the years: 2009, 2007 and for weeks 7 and 8 for 2008. Whatever DC's reasons for either not reporting or record keeping must be an institutional glitch or gap that we haven't as of yet discovered an explanation. We're in communication with the agency to determine either the information or the reason for the lack of reporting.  In other local areas the numbers are up for the dead and dying from Maryland and Norfolk by one (1)  from last week but down in the Richmond and in the Virginia area overall. North Carolina reported a decrease in overall deaths for the state since last week.