Yes, it was seniors to the back of the line for the Swine Flu Vaccine. Not to worry. It would not be an issue for those over 65. Anyway, the productive days for the elderly were coming to an end anyway. Welcome to the beginning of Health Care rationing. I know, many are debunking the seriousness of the issue. Notice: Our Hospital is full now with pneumonia Patients, and it’s just the beginning of October.
Here’s some important news for older adults. Researchers are reporting that contrary to the messages we’ve been hearing over the last six months, the H1N1 swine flu virus can be extremely dangerous for those ages 50 and older. New research, to be published in the November 4th Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) JAMA 2009;302(17)1896-1902 reviewed the first 1088 cases of H1N1 reported in California after the disease first surfaced in April 2009.http://jama.ama-ssn.org/cgi/content/short/302/17/1896?home
The findings, presented by Janice Louie of the California Department of Public Health, were surprising.
Although 32 percent were children under 18, 58 percent were adults
• Those ages 50 or older had the highest rate of death once hospitalized
• Overall fatality was 11 percent, but in those over 50 it was between 18 and 20 percent
• Among fatal cases, the median time from onset of symptoms to death was just 12 days
In other words, it’s not just children, young people, and pregnant women who are getting seriously ill with the H1N1 swine flu virus. And when older adults get H1N1, they can get very very sick and have a higher death rate than other groups.
But there was a second revelation: In a startling 68 percent of all cases, the patients had an underlying condition that’s known to be associated with severe influenza. These were:
- obesity
- hypertension (high blood pressure)
- hyperlidemia (high cholesterol and triglycerides) (There is some thought that it might be the statins– cholesterol lowering drugs that increase risk)
- gastrointestinal disease
Louie made a specific point of mentioning obesity, saying she thought it should be considered a “newly identified risk factor” for serious H1N1 infection and deserves further study.




President Barack Obama says the United States will share 10 percent of its swine flu vaccine supply with other nations to help fight the deadly virus’ global spread.

