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Nov 5, 2009 4:43 pm US/Pacific
H1N1 More Serious In State Than Previously Thought
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ―
California's top doctors say the spread of swine flu in California is more serious than originally thought. So why is it so hard to get vaccinated?
"In the last week alone the greatest increase in the number of outbreaks throughout California came from school outbreaks," say health officials.
As the H1N1 virus spreads through California schools, local districts like Natomas Unified are changing the way they fight the flu.
"And what we are saying at the superintendents discretion, if fifty percent of the class had flu like symptoms then we would close that class for three calendar days," said a Natomas Unified official.
Health officials now believe the virus is more severe than previously thought.
"We found 30 percent of persons that were hospitalized required intense care and 11 percent died, and that emphasizes the point that this is not a mild disease," explain officials.
But despite the growing danger of the swine flu, vaccine manufacturing is taking too long. California should have received 6.25 million doses by now, but the state has only received about half that. State health officials ordered another 500,000 doses on Wednesday.
"This vaccine is one that requires very slow processes of literally waiting for the vaccine to grow the cultures that it needs, and that is taking much longer than anticipated," say state health officials.
As of this week, more than 4,800 people have been hospitalized with H1N1 flu statewide and 266 have died, including 17 last week alone.
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