Four more people have died from swine flu, bringing the total such deaths in Hawaii to 10, the state Department of Health said today. One of the deaths is a 5-year-old — the first death of a child here, said Janice Okubo, DOH spokeswoman. The others who died were described as two adults with underlying health issues and one adult with no health issues. Okubo said state epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Park confirmed the deaths, which occurred between June and August.
--Honolulu Advertiser
I never did get the big hype over the swine flu. The normal flu, influenza, contributes to millions of deaths world wide. Sure the swine flu virus could mutate, but can't influenza do the same. Still, the swine flu does kill people and the development of the antiviral vaccine specific to the virus should be a higher priority. The swine flu typically targets middle-aged adults, with less deaths reported for children and senior citizens.
0 comments:
Post a Comment