Flulike illness declines in Virginia but H1N1 deaths up

Flulike illness in the state appeared to decline last week, but deaths caused by the H1N1 flu continue to rise.

As of yesterday, 21 deaths across Virginia were being blamed on swine flu. That's four more than reported earlier this week.

"I can't tell you that we are coming down on the other side of the pandemic curve yet," Dr. Karen Remley, Virginia's health commissioner, said during a news briefing yesterday.

"But we are not seeing the rapid rise [in illness] that we were seeing at the beginning of [October]. We are starting to see some stability in the amount of people who are visiting emergency departments for H1N1."

Flulike illness accounted for 11 percent of all visits last week to emergency rooms and urgent-care centers, compared with about 14 percent in the previous two weeks. Those rates are statewide averages.

A Health Department map shows flulike illness rates of more than 20 percent in the Rappahannock/Rapidan and Prince William health districts for the week ending Oct. 31.

The deaths reported yesterday involved adult females living in the Alleghany, Chesapeake and Central Shenandoah health districts and an adult male living in the Rappahannock Health District.

Of the 21 total deaths, seven were of males and 14 of females. Three of the deaths have been of children. Of the cases, 18 had underlying health conditions, while two didn't. The status is unknown for one person.

"As we continue through the flu season, certainly there will be, as expected, some other deaths," said Dr. Donald Stern, Richmond Health District director. "But our hopes are as the rate of illness stabilizes or decreases, the rate of deaths will also stabilize and/or decrease."

As of yesterday, Virginia has ordered a total of more than 870,000 doses of vaccine, with more than half designated to go to private providers, Remley said. The state continues to order more.

"We are getting closer and closer to that million number," Remley said. "The other great news is, as a state we are giving that vaccine as fast as we get it."

Concerns remain about how vaccine is being distributed, with some high-risk people complaining they cannot get the vaccine. Remley noted yesterday that it is a public vaccination campaign and that they are relying on people to do what they feel is the right thing.

"We are doing everything we can at every local health department to counsel people about why it's so important to make sure we have vaccine for pregnant women, for children and for people in the priority groups," Remley said.

It's not always possible to look at a person and tell whether they have a chronic health problem that would put them in a priority group for vaccine, she said.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is holding its regular news briefing today to provide a national update on H1N1 flu activity and vaccine distribution.