Sobering news out of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control today regarding swine flu/H1N1. According to a report by Reuters' Maggie Fox, the influenza strain "has killed an estimated 3,900 Americans from April to October, including more than 500 children," leading U.S. health officials to describe this year's flu season as the worst since 1997.

Here's an excerpt:

Better data than was previously available shows the flu pandemic has infected an estimated 22 million Americans and put 98,000 in the hospital, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Children account for 8 million of the infected, 36,000 of those hospitalized and 540 deaths.

In an average flu season, about 36,000 Americans die and 200,000 are
hospitalized with 90 percent of deaths and hospitalizations among people over 65.

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