Severe Swine Flu Can Kill Young, Old Alike
TUESDAY, Nov. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Californians both young and old are contracting H1N1, with infants the most likely to be hospitalized and adults over the age of 50, once hospitalized, the most likely to die, a new study shows.
The report, appearing in the Nov. 4 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, somewhat contradicts the popularly held notion that elderly people are relatively immune from the ravages of this new infection.
Even though the numbers of elderly hospitalized and dying are relatively small, "that small proportion that are hospitalized who are elderly should be watched because they are at a higher risk of having a bad outcome once hospitalized. It doesn't mean they have a higher risk of infection," said study author Dr. Janice Louie, a public health medical officer with the California Department of Health.
One top federal expert agreed.
"This is quite consistent with data we've seen from this country, as well as globally, and it does emphasize that providers should think of H1N1 in all age groups," Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a Tuesday teleconference.
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