More than 38 million vaccine doses available against swine flu
Sat 07 Nov 2009
By Thomas H. Maugh II
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More than 38 million doses of vaccine against pandemic H1N1 influenza are now available, 11 million more than were available last week and double the number available two weeks ago, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

And 8 million more doses are expected to arrive next week "if everything goes well," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

"That is progress. . . . As supplies increase, things should go better."

About 91 million doses of seasonal flu vaccine have also been shipped, and manufacturers expect to ship a record 114 million doses before the season is over, she said.

Widespread influenza activity is being seen in 48 states "and virtually everything is H1N1," she noted. Influenza-like illnesses accounted for 7.7% of visits to doctors' offices last week -- down slightly from 8% the week before, but "way higher than we would normally see at this time of year."

More than half of the hospitalizations continue to be in people younger than 25, and 90% of the deaths are in people under 65, she said. In a typical flu season, the vast majority of deaths are in those over 65. Since Aug.
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