Published On: September 4th, 2009
Thomas Frieden, the head of the CDC, is giving an update today on the H1N1 flu (aka swine flu). We’ll be liveblogging the event, which should start any minute now.
12:19: The conference begins.
12:20: “H1N1 influenza is here. It is spreading in parts of the U.S., particularly the southeast.” But so far, everything we’ve seen “shows that the virus has not changed to become more deadly.” It will affect lots of people, but most of them will not be severely ill.”
12:21: Nevertheless, the flu is unpredictable. “We have to be ready and prepared to change our approach depending on what the virus does.”
12:22 Reports from South America show that the severity and the death rate have remained steady and have not increased.
12:23 He’s discussing an MMWR study that’s out today on death in 36 children from H1N1. In two-thirds of those cases children had underlying disabilities before they got sick.
12:24: Children who died who did not have underlying disability in some cases had a secondary bacterial infection. That’s an important message — if you have the flu, and you start to get better, then you get worse again, you may be suffering from a secondary, bacterial infection.

The rest is here:
Swine Flu Update: Liveblogging the CDC Press Conference



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