H1N1 Childrens Dosing Update

Review of data finds many children overdue for second H1N1 dose.

USA Today (1/15, Young) reports that, according to its review of data from 10 states, "hundreds of thousands of children are overdue for a second dose of H1N1 vaccine that's needed to fully protect them from swine flu." In some states, "up to 80% of children under 10 who got a first dose are overdue for a second," and "no state had more than about half of children with a second dose." Beth Bell, a CDC influenza specialist, told USA Today that a third wave of H1N1 infections could occur this winter. Of the 10 states surveyed, Georgia had the greatest percentage of children overdue for a second dose, at 83%.
Swine flu statistics in California said to reflect further evidence of racial divide. The Los Angeles Times (1/15, Hennessy-Fiske) reports that figures released on Jan. 14 by the California Department of Public Health confirm that "Latinos have been nearly twice as likely as whites to die of H1N1 flu since the pandemic began last spring." State epidemiologist Dr. Gilberto Chavez said that "not everybody has been impacted equally" by the virus, noting that the figures had exposed "very important racial disparities" in H1N1 mortality and hospitalization rates. Chavez theorized that the higher mortality rates among minorities could be attributed to the "high rates of chronic health conditions, such as diabetes and obesity, that studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate put them at greater risk for flu."