H1N1 swine flu has killed as many as 17,000 Americans, including 1,800 children, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Friday. The swine flu pandemic put as many people into the hospital as during the normal influenza season - but most were younger adults and children instead of the elderly, and it was during the months when usually very little or no flu is circulating, the CDC said.
In a separate study that helped shed light on why so many children were seriously affected, researchers reported on four children who developed a serious infection of the heart from swine flu, including one who died. "CDC estimates that between 41 million and 84 million cases of 2009 H1N1 occurred between April 2009 and January 16, 2010," the agency said in a statement.
Usually the CDC goes with a middle number, which it puts at about 57 million people infected. Between 8,330 and 17,160 people died during that time from H1N1, with a middle range of about 12,000, the CDC said. But between 880 and 1,800 children died, up to 13,000 adults under the age of 65 and only 1,000 to 2,000 elderly.