Swine flu kills five in Texas..VIDEO now 4 other states
The CDC is already reporting spiking infection rates of the flu in several states across the country.

[link to www.cnn.com]

Just on local Fox news in Orlando,"Concerned" local officials on this issue.

Here it comes.  Holiday travel from around Dec-22 thru Dec-26.   It will be widespread in most all states over the next few days.  We're about to find out exactly how severe it is.

Alaska swine flu cases increase

Coughing, sneezing, and hacking their way through the holidays, Alaskans are getting the flu. And more are likely to get ill. The epidemiology section of the Alaska Division of Public Health said it saw a December rise in the number of confirmed cases of influenza in Alaska.

The culprit: a majority of confirmed flu cases in Alaska so far this season are of the H1N1 strain -- the so-called “swine flu.” And this year’s strain of swine flu is acting much differently than the disease did when it swept across 214 countries in 2009-2010 and killed more than 18,000, becoming a global pandemic. The 2009 H1N1 flu most affected the young and the old. This year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said young and middle-aged adults are most at risk to develop symptoms severe enough to require hospitalization.

The CDC issued a flu alert the day before Christmas. The agency said it has received numerous reports of hospitalizations requiring ICU care, and even some deaths among young and middle-aged adults. The emergence of the flu, though, is far from unexpected. It appears throughout the seasons each year, but most often it is seen from November through February. This year, in Alaska, December has seen a big uptick in the number of cases reported -- almost 200, compared to just 47 in November. But the 2013-2014 flu season is just getting started.

“We do know the trend is increasing and we don’t know when it is going to peak,” said Dr. Joe McLaughlin, the director of the state’s epidemiology section. “We have widespread illness already throughout Alaska.”

coyote wrote: H1N1 Flu Virus Surfaces In Chicago (CBS) – Nearly two dozen cases of the potentially deadly H1N1 flu virus have been confirmed in the Chicago area, CBS 2 has learned. Finding the flu virus among patients at Loyola University Medical Center is keeping special machines working overtime right now. They’ve detected a sudden burst of the 2009 swine flu spreading right here in the Chicago area. Microbiologist Paul Schreckenberger says last week alone, 21 patients tested positive for Influenza A. All but one of those cases were the 2009 H1N1 swine flu. “We don’t know why it’s emerging,” Schreckenberger says. [link to chicago.cbslocal.com]

I have friends in that area Coyote and many people there are seriously ill. they are reporting severe headaches, lung congestion, conjunctivitis, high fever, systemic infections and UTI, without any real medical care being offered. This really is looking like a repeat of 2009. Even though the vaccine is out there, are people taking it? These people were vaccinated and they still got the flu.

coyote and Med and Albert,is it possible that h1n1 with be the stress-or that causes the economies around the world to collapse.Johnray1

Carbon20,very few people know this and most will not believe it.But this H1N1 IS the Spanish Flu 0f 1918-1919 that was reconstructed by our BioWar Fare people. The biggest difference if death toll is going to be in vaccination and antibiotics for the pneumonia that follows. Johnray1

In Denver the Doc on TV said we have a lot of Flu A he said most was H1N1. People who had the flu shot have also gotten this flu...so much for the flu shot. He did add that having the shot may lessen the symptoms....key word MAY!

The Doc on TV said it hits hard and fast typical headache, fever, body aches and all the other wonderful symptoms.

I have Tamiflu at home and will take it right away and then get a new script filled when I go to the Doctor. Hope that plan works if I get it.

No new deaths have been reported since Texas. I was expecting more by now. A good sign!

cobber wrote: No new deaths have been reported since Texas. I was expecting more by now. A good sign! I get the feeling this was an odd occurrence and maybe H1N1 is just a kitty cat

I'm with you, cobber. Honestly, I don't see this being anything more than a really bad flu season if H1N1 in it's present form is all we have to worry about.

Yes, we have a lot of people getting sick and it's sad to see flu related deaths, but let's not forget that on average flu claims the lives of 36,000 Americans every year and results in more than 200,000 hospitalizations. If reassortment occurs then obviously all bets are off, but I think that's what it would take for this virus to cause any kind of significant societal disruption. A bad flu season is not what I prep for.

H1N1 death toll rises to 13 in Houston

2013-12-28

HOUSTON, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Health officials have confirmed that at least 13 people have died from H1N1 virus in the U.S. city of Houston this year.

The most recent death from H1N1, also known as the swine flu, was a teenager, officials with the Houston Health Department told local media KHOU Friday.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there have been four pediatric deaths nationwide from the flu. Texas, Alabama, Louisiana and New York remain hotbeds for flu activity.

Most confirmed H1N1 cases were reportedly on the middle-aged and the elderly. Texas has already issued a statewide influenza health alert and urged all Texans over the age of 6 months to get a flu shot.

Texas public health officials say every region of the state is seeing intense flu activity this season, which could result, as in past years, in at least several hundred deaths. In Houston area alone, hospital emergency room visits for flu-like symptoms are at a five-year high.

Official said the virus is the same strain of H1N1 that caused a pandemic in 2009. The illnesses started with flu-like symptoms, then progressed to pneumonia and, in some cases, organ failure.

The flu pandemic in the United States began in the spring of 2009. The virus had spread to the country from an outbreak in Mexico. As of mid-March 2010, the U.S. CDC estimated that about 59 million Americans contracted the H1N1 virus, 265,000 were hospitalized as a result, and 12,000 died.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/health/2013-12/28/c_133002752.htmH1N1 death toll rises to 13 in Houston

http://www.arklatexhomepage.com/story/east-texas-girl-in-critical-condition-with-h1n1/d/story/ppWf4tZj4EqMGCVTWxFtLA