Swine flu stats

Every year in the United States, an average of five to 20 percent of the population (20% of 350 million = 70 million) gets the flu. Of those, about 200,000 (0.28% of those with the flu) people are hospitalized for flu complications and about 36,000 (1.8% of those hospitalized) die from the flu and flu-related complications—primarily pneumonia.

The flu tends to hit children and the elderly hardest. An average of 92 children under the age of five die each year, while more than 90 percent of flu-related deaths occur in those 65 and older.

Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control, National Foundation for Infectious Diseases
Italicized are my additions

(August 29th, 2009:) More than 2,180 people around the world have died from the swine flu virus since it emerged in April, 2009, according to the latest WHO figures.

In the southern hemisphere where the flu-prone winter season is tailing off, the WHO said cities in several countries had reported that nearly 15 percent of hospitalised cases required intensive care.

Source: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/health_flu_who

How many people died from flu during the 2007-08 season?

Exact numbers of how many people died from flu this season cannot be determined. Flu-associated deaths (which have laboratory confirmed influenza), are only a nationally notifiable condition among children; however not all pediatric influenza deaths may be detected and reported and there is no requirement to report adult deaths from influenza.

In addition, many people who die from flu complications are not tested, or they seek medical care later in their illness when flu can no longer be detected from respiratory samples. However, CDC tracks pneumonia and influenza (P&I) deaths through the 122 Cities Mortality Reporting System.

This system collects information each week on the total number of death certificates filed in each of the 122 participating cities and the number of death certificates with pneumonia or influenza listed as a cause of death. The 122 Cities Mortality Reporting system helps gauge the severity of a flu season compared with other years. However, only a proportion of all P&I deaths are influenza-related and, as noted, most flu deaths are not lab confirmed.

Thus, this system does not allow for an estimation of the number of deaths, only the relative severity among different influenza seasons. For the 2007-08 season, the proportion of deaths due to pneumonia and influenza was higher than the previous two years, but was similar to the 2004-05 season.

Source: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/season.htm

It is worth remembering that seasonal flu often poses a serious threat to public health: each year it kills 250,000 - 500,000 around the world.

Source: BBC, http://www.theroadtothehorizon.org/2009/04/how-many-people-die-of-flu-every-year.html

As of August 23 2009, there are over 209,438 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection, including at least 2,185 deaths. (1.04%)

Source: WHO (as above)

An average of 195,000 people in the USA died annually due to potentially preventable, in-hospital medical errors in each of the years 2000, 2001 and 2002, according to a new study of 37 million patient records that was released today by HealthGrades, the healthcare quality company.

Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/11856.php

Getting an Comprehensive international health insurance policy

When traveling, there is a need to get a comprehensive international health insurance policy especially if you are planning to stay in the country for a long period of time. A comprehensive international health insurance policy often provides coverage not only for medical and health-related expenses, it also covers cancelled trips and emergency assistance in case you need one. Cancelled trips can be reimbursed so that you can book a flight anytime you want.

Still, it is pretty hard to actually choose the kind of comprehensive health insurance policy that you will be needing. All will of course depend on your needs as well as the features of the trip that you will be making. To help you with your decision, below are some guidelines that might help you select the right travel insurance policy for you.

1. Before making actually buying an insurance policy, make sure that you don’t have insurance policies, credit cards and other privilege cards that will do the same functions as the comprehensive health insurance policy in case the trip was accidentally cancelled, you got sick or you lost your luggage. Remember that some credit cards provide free travel insurance if the tickets are purchased with their card. Buying a health insurance policy when you are actually sufficiently covered already will be a serious waste of time and money.

2. Ask if you are also amply protected against travel injuries that you may incur after the trip as well as thefts. Most credit card company will only provide insurance if you are still in the airport or while you are on air. If you feel that you also need insurance policy when you get to your destination, then by all means get a health insurance plan.

3. If you are the type to travel often, getting a travel health insurance will save you considerable money and effort. Comprehensive travel health insurance cover the person for a year. If you do several trips in a year, this is already a bargain since you will also be covered even when you have already left the airport.

4. Consider where you are going in deciding whether to get a travel insurance or not. If you are going to places where you feel your health can be compromised and affected, then get your own comprehensive travel health insurance plan. Remember that there are countries where certain diseases are prevalent. This is especially true with the tropical countries in Asia and in the South Americas.

5. Another point to consider is if the place you are traveling to is a known terrorism hot zone. Most travel health insurance policy do not actually offer coverage for victims of terrorist attacks. There are however some who offer terrorism insurance. For instance, even if you are traveling by ship, the terrorism insurance will still be effective. A terrorism travel health insurance is of course more expensive and premium will depend upon the age, the health status and the length of the trip.

6. Read on the clauses and policies of the comprehensive travel health insurance policy before buying. Focus on the sections that indicate exceptions to the coverage. You should also look into the other services that the insurance provides in addition to the health coverage.