18% of Americans Contracted H1N1

About 18% of Americans contracted H1N1.
The AP (2/12, Stobbe) reported that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that the "cumulative impact" of the H1N1 virus "has grown to 57 million US illnesses, 257,000 hospitalizations and 11,690 deaths." The numbers, representing the first nine months of the pandemic, indicate "increases of about four percent from the CDC's last estimates, which covered the first eight months." The Washington Post (2/13, Brown) reported that "slightly more than 18 percent of the population" contracted H1N1 at some point during the nine-month period.
Beth Bell, associate director for science at the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease, told Bloomberg News (2/13, Randall), "The fact that there are young healthy people dying and being hospitalized at these rates, that's the important feature of this pandemic. ... There are still hospitalizations and deaths being reported. We have ample supply of vaccine, and this is a good time to get vaccinated."