休斯顿猪流感已死了11人了(转贴)

In what experts suggested should awaken people to the threat, swine flu has been the cause of death in nine more people in the Houston area than previously reported, according to new data from state and local health departments.

The additional H1N1 deaths, which increase the area's total from two to 11, include six in Harris County, two in Fort Bend County and one in Brazoria County. The 11 victims represent all age groups.

“It's truly alarming that there are this many deaths this early,” Dr. Paul Glezen, lead epidemiologist at Baylor College of Medicine's Influenza Research Center. “Polls show people are blase and unconcerned, but this should give them an idea of the virus' lethal nature.”

The confirmations came as Harris County, like the rest of the nation, awaits distribution of the vaccine that can prevent the disease. The vaccine began trickling in last week, but only to health departments and not in sufficient amounts to give to anyone beyond caregivers. That had not changed Monday.

The eight deaths in Harris County — the original two occurred in Houston — are still less than some other large counties and comparable to Texas' other urban counties. There have been 33 deaths in Los Angeles County, 24 in Dade (Miami), 9 in Bexar (San Antonio) and 8 in both Dallas and Philadelphia counties.

Glezen said he thinks the actual local death toll is higher than 11, given deaths that he knows of at Texas Children's Hospital. Baylor staffs Texas Children's.

A Texas Children's spokesman said one death in September has been confirmed to have been caused by swine flu, two more are listed as probable swine flu deaths and all three involved underlying medical conditions. It was unclear if the one confirmed death was one of the Fort Bend deaths, an infant with a severe congenital abnormality who died in mid-September.

The other two pediatric deaths in the local 11 were the Mexico City toddler who died at Texas Children's in April after being transferred from Brownsville; and a Fort Bend middle school girl who died in May. The state still counts the death of the Mexico City child as a Houston death, even though city health department officials do not.

The other Houston-area deaths all involved adults — five in the 25- to 49-year-old age group, one in the 50- to 64-year-old group, one over 65 and one whose exact age category was not disclosed.

The new deaths only came to light through a weekly state report that breaks down the number by county. Four of the Harris County deaths were only reported to the health department last week, but the other two occurred in June.

The health department did not announce the deaths in June and last week, and has no plans to announce them in the future, said spokeswoman Rita Obey.

“We don't normally report influenza deaths,” Obey said. “Sadly, we know we're going to have deaths. What we really want everyone to do is focus on how they can protect themselves — the hygiene messages in addition to the vaccine … and not become overly alarmed by the deaths.”

Obey added that privacy laws prevent releasing whether the patients had underlying health conditions or where they were treated.

Brazoria County health department medical director Dr. Leo O'Gormon said they have no record of a person dying in Brazoria County from H1N1, but a state official stood by the state data, saying the death occurred in September. He would say only that it was an adult.

Neither the state nor city of Houston count the number of swine flu cases any more, but their amount of activity is categorized as widespread, the highest level. Glezen and another Baylor doctor said children with the virus are in hospitals and clinics at alarming levels.

todd.ackerman@chron.com