Oregon swine flu bug appears to have (almost) bitten the dust

Visits to doctors for the H1N1 virus were down sharply in November

By Nancy Townsley

The Forest Grove News-Times, Dec 2, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

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While most influenza viruses showing up in hospital emergency rooms this fall are being categorized as 2009 H1N1, cases of swine flu are dropping sharply in Oregon and across the nation, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A CDC report out Monday said that for the fourth consecutive week – following an eight-week national surge – all regions of the country showed a “sharp decline” in influenza-like illness.

Oregon and 31 other states continued to show “widespread influenza activity” between Nov. 23 and 30, a decline of 11 states from the week before, the CDC reported.

Oregon’s outbreak “pretty much peaked in October and early November,” said Dr. Paul Lewis, deputy health officer with the Tri-County Health Officer Program for Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties.

“We think this wave has largely passed,” Lewis noted, “but we want to keep up with our vaccination campaign because we’d love to prevent more of it.”

Washington County has prioritized groups eligible to receive swine flu vaccines as children age six months to five years; pregnant women and individuals age five through 64 with underlying medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease or lung disease.

Overall flu activity in the U.S. “remains high for this time of year,” the CDC reported, with deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza higher than expected.

Young children appear to be particularly susceptible – of the 35 pediatric deaths reported across the country last week, 27 were associated with laboratory-confirmed H1N1; seven were influenza A viruses; and one was associated with a seasonal influenza A (H1) virus.

Between Sept. 1 and Nov. 24, there were 1,200 hospitalizations and 49 deaths from complications associated with H1N1 in Oregon, according to county health officials.