U.S. A/H1N1 flu deaths reach 436, hospitalizations over 6,500
16:41' 08/08/2009 (GMT+7)
The A/H1N1 flu death toll in the United State has reached 436 with hospitalizations of 6,506, according to the latest statistics released by the federal Centersfro Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta on Friday.

A nurse from the California Nurses Association, wearing a surgical mask, attends a rally at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center, August 5, 2009.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)The CDC said that 83 more deaths have been reported in the past week, a 24-percent formidable jump from the previous record of 353 released a week ago by the agency.

Meanwhile, there have been 992 more patients of the new virus admitted to the hospitals in the past week, bring the total number of the hospitalizations around the country to 6,506, or an 18-percent increase compared with the previous record of 5,514.

Since the outbreak of the A/H1N1 flu in late April, The CDC has reported on its website the latest development of the new virus every weekend -- including numbers of deaths and conformed and probable cases of the new flu virus.

But beginning from July 24, the CDC has changed the reporting requirements for the A/H1N1 influenza by local health jurisdictions. The new reporting requirements will track mainly hospitalized and fatal cases, the CDC said, adding that non-hospitalized case reporting is no longer needed at this stage of the pandemic.

Instead of reporting confirmed and probable cases of the A/H1N1flu virus, the CDC has transitioned to using its traditional flu surveillance systems to track the progress of both the A/H1N1 flu pandemic and seasonal influenza.

These systems work to determine when and where flu activity is occurring, track flu-related illness, determine what flu viruses are circulating, detect changes in flu viruses, and measure the impact of flu on hospitalizations and deaths around the country, the CDC explained.

Despite the summer heat and humanity, the A/H1N1 flu has continued to spread in the country as a whole, with formidable increases of deaths in a number of states in recent weeks. California and Florida have been reporting more deaths in the past month.

The CDC officials and experts are urging people to be well-prepared for the pandemic declared by World Health Organization last month. They believe the A/H1N1 flu will shape up as a category 2 pandemic similar to the 1957 Asian flu outbreak in the fall and winter.

The federal and state officials are preparing for massive A/H1N1 flu immunizations, starting with schoolchildren when they return school later this month.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet