Spread of HINI (Swine Flu) across the United States

I work as an ER nurse in Silicon Valley. We've actually been seeing a number of flu cases the past few weeks. The Santa Clara county health department is saying that 98% of flu cases in the area are H1N1. For the vast majority of people, it's just runs its course as a case of the flu. We have had a hand full of cases of people ending up in bad shape, but it's a small percentage of the total swine flu population.

So, if you have a fever, cough and runny nose and GI complaints, do us all a favor and don't go to work. Instead isolate yourself for a week. But, by all means, come see us in the ER if you're having trouble breathing or feeling really ill. :)

How worried should I be that these people can't even get the name of the strain right?

Those graphics are misleading because it describes the number of reported cases (doesn't include people who didn't come in or who weren't tested), yet they're putting that number next to general estimates of flu strains.

The most recent CDC press briefing is here: http://www.cdc.gov/media/transcripts/2009/t090626.htm

Salient point from it:

"As you may have heard yesterday, we at CDC are estimating that those reported cases are really just the tip of the iceberg. We're saying there have been at least a million cases of this new H1N1 virus in the United States so far this year."

Luckily, H1N1 (why does their graphic use roman numeral I?) isn't particularly lethal at this time, but lots of eyes are on the southern hemisphere.

In the many years I spent in Virginia, I've never been accused of living in the Northwest.

I was surprised to see the death rate for swine flu is not much different from the regular seasonal flu (according to the stats given).

wow! the avian flu is incredibly lethal, but I guess it kills its host before it can infect many others.

I wonder what is the most dangerous intermediate death rate that maximizes damage by spreading to a wide population and killing many. Any computational biology geeks reading HN who know the answer?

Neat, but I wish they had per-capita numbers. I'm guessing Wisconsin would look even more interesting then.

Can anyone explain why there have been 6031 cases in Winconsin and only 1 death while New York has had 2583 cases and 52 deaths?

Why are NewYork etc marked as "NorthWest"?