CDC: Seniors less likely to contract swine flu


Whether seniors are residing in independent living, retirement homes or other facilities, they may be able to worry less about the recent H1N1 outbreak.


According to an article in the Philadelphia Enquirer, a 26-year-old woman recently passed away from complications associated with the swine flu, but both local statistics and information from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) should assuage seniors' concerns.


CDC: Seniors less likely to contract swine flu


The CDCs director of the national center for immunization and respiratory diseases Anne Schuchat MD recently briefed the press and stated that despite some fatalities, swine flu "activity seems to be declining in the nation as a whole," and in more positive news, CDC physicians have "taken the first steps of developing a candidate vaccine virus."


In addition, Schuchat reassures older citizens by commenting that "the epidemiology of this particular virus does not seem to be causing a lot of problems in the elderly."


This sentiment is further supported by Pennsylvania Health Department statistics that are included in the Enquirer's article.


Apparently, more than 80 percent of H1N1 cases up until June 4 occurred in people younger than 30, with 31 percent of that amount hitting children ages 10 to 14.


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