Flu
Surpasses AIDS
As Killer in U.S.
Influenza has surpassed AIDS as a lethal killer
and contributes to an average 36,000 annual U.S. deaths, largely
because of a vulnerable aging population for whom the vaccine
is often ineffective, government research shows.
The U.S. flu-related death toll surged fourfold
from 16,263 in 1976-77 to 64,684 in 1998-99, the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention reported in Wednesday's Journal
of the American Medical Association . Those numbers average
out to 16,000 more deaths yearly than the previous estimate
of 20,000.
Health and Human Services Secretary
Tommy Thompson said the news "that influenza may be taking an even larger
toll than we have realized" underscores the importance of flu
shots, especially for older people.
Drug breakthroughs in the mid-1990s helped reduce
U.S. AIDS deaths from 51,000 in 1995 to about 15,000 in 2001.
But the main weapon doctors have
against flu - a vaccine - has proven disappointingly ineffective
in the most susceptible population: people 65 and older.
Older people are more prone to
flu complications and the annual shots do not protect aging
immune systems as well as they do younger ones.
The flu death toll pales in comparison to that
of the worldwide influenza epidemic of 1918, which killed more
than 20 million people, including 500,000 Americans.
But the new numbers frustrate public
health experts who had hoped for the development of a flu vaccine
about 40
years ago.
A more lethal virus strain has hit in recent
years, contributing to the increase in deaths.
But between 1976 and 1999, the number of U.S.
adults 85 and older doubled. And the researchers found that
this age group was 16 times more likely to die of flu-related
causes than people ages 65 to 69.
Flu can progress to pneumonia and other life-threatening
lung infections and can weaken elderly people, making them
more vulnerable to other serious ailments, such as heart disease.
The study also found that older people are disproportionately
affected by another respiratory virus previously thought to
be more common in children.
The researchers estimate there are 11,000 deaths
annually from respiratory syncytial virus, which can cause
severe cold-like symptoms and pneumonia.
Their study confirmed that RSV is the most common
cause of viral death in children under 5. But to researchers'
surprise, the study found that 78 percent of RSV deaths occur
in people 65 and older.
"We've known for some time that influenza and
RSV have a profound impact on public health," said CDC director
Dr. Julie Gerberding. "However, these data indicate that the
magnitude of the problem is larger than we once thought."
Vaccines against RSV are being developed.
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