HOW MANY Americans have been diagnosed with the H1N1 influenza? Good luck finding an answer. Nobody has an exact count and, surprisingly, the numbers do not matter.
In Atlanta, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention keeps on its Web site, www.cdc.gov, a tally of confirmed cases as reported by the states. But those figures depend on how much testing each state is doing and how punctually the states are reporting results.
For example, the CDC site says Kansas has reported 34 confirmed cases of the H1N1 flu. But the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s own tally on its Web site, www.kdheks.gov/H1N1/index.htm, reports 82 confirmed cases in the state.
The state figures will have even less meaning soon. KDHE has announced that it plans to quit testing in counties that have already had confirmed cases. H1N1 is already known to be present in those counties, and health officials there are expected to treat suspected cases accordingly. Testing is still being done in counties that have yet to report a confirmed case.
The point being that information of the spread of the disease in the state is of more importance than having an accurate nose count of everyone who gets the flu.
Joe Quimby, a senior press officer at the CDC, said Friday that the national tally on the Web site cannot be taken as the true number of cases, but only reflects the confirmed cases reported to the CDC by each state. Friday’s tally for the nation was 8,975. Quimby said the true number — reported and unreported cases — may be closer to 100,000.
The important thing, Quimby said, is for the public to be aware that the flu is around and to follow the common-sense suggestions of the CDC and state and local health departments — cough or sneeze into your elbow or a tissue, dispose of used tissues and wash your hands frequently. If you have flu-like symptoms — body aches, fever and respiratory problems — let your primary-care doctor know and follow any instructions the doctor gives you. Stay home and stay away from people whose health is otherwise compromised or who have other conditions, such as pregnancy, that place them specifically at risk.
The Web sites listed above have further information on how to handle the flu.
Because the official numbers on the flu are so inaccurate, The Gazette will stop publishing its daily tallies. That does not mean we will stop reporting on the flu or that we will not report the confirmation of any flu cases in this area.
The flu is still news and readers still need to know about it. What nobody needs is inaccurate and incomplete numbers.
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dalelinn (anonymous) says...
Why should the Gazette be worried about printing inaccuracies like "Because the official numbers on the flu are so inaccurate, The Gazette will stop publishing its daily tallies."? The swine flu numbers are probably no more inaccurate than most of the economic data that our federal government puts out. It seems that the accuracy of the economic data would be more important since the swine flu does not to be seem to be "sweeping the globe".
May 30, 2009 at 6:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )