H1N1 Wreaking Destruction in California

Last year, during the 2012-2013 flu season, there were 106 recorded flu-related deaths in California. This year, there were as many cases in just one month. The number is currently at 147 so far, not including the 44 deaths currently under investigation to see if they were indeed flu-related. All of these deaths were of people under the age of 65, and each death was either a direct result of the H1N1 virus or complications that came about because the person was infected with the virus.

H1N1 virus

It's uncertain whether or not California is an outlier with such a high statistic, since states are not required to report flu deaths to the Centers for Disease Control, or if this is a disturbing premonition of what's to come. The CDC does say that this season has seen the widest circulation of H1N1 since the pandemic in 2009. It was that pandemic that made it required for counties in California to report any and all deaths caused by the flu in those under 65 years of age.

A possible explanation for the large number of deaths among younger people comes from Sacramento Health County Health Officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye, who says that H1N1 is a different strain of flu virus because it targets those who are young and healthy. Scientists also think that those over the age of 65 have a higher immunity as a result of similar outbreaks that had occurred decades ago, whereas younger people may have never been exposed to it before, and the H1N1 vaccine is not a mandatory vaccine for everyone.

There is some good news. Influenza cases in Los Angeles County seem to be leveling off and even declining recently. However, cases of flue-like symptoms at doctors' offices around the country are 50% higher than normal, which means that the United States is still smack in the middle of flu season. Health officials are urging those at the greatest risk to see their doctors as soon as they start developing flu-like symptoms, and California is encouraging its residents to get vaccinated, since it doesn't seem like flu season will be over any time soon.

For me, it's pretty disturbing to hear of 147 people dying as a result of the flu. In today's world, things like this always surprise me, and I keep having to remember that, despite all of our advances in health care and medicine, we still have no cure for viruses. Once you get a virus, your immune system is on its own, with maybe some marginal help from medicine. It is, for me, one of the failures of modern medicine, and one of the things that makes viruses so fascinating.

This outbreak reminded me of the Mary Mallon case and the question of individual rights versus public well-being that we have been studying. What if the spread of H1N1 got worse? What would the state of California do if faced with a critical situation? Would the rights of individuals be an afterthought in the face of such a danger to the general population? I think a big difference between now and Mary Mallon's time, however, is that people are much less shy of suing if they think they have a case, which could change the way the government would approach such a situation.

For more information on the H1N1 vaccine: http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/features/h1n1-swine-flu-vaccine-faq

The original article, from Liberty Voice: http://guardianlv.com/2014/02/h1n1-flu-hits-hard-with-147-dead-so-far-in-california/