Swine Flu Kills 3900 People in the U.S.

Swine flu H1N1 has killed about 3900 Americans from April to October, including more than 500 children, some U.S. health officials said Thursday.

Data better than the previous data could be obtained showed that the flu outbreak has infected about 22 million Americans and put 98,000 people to the hospital, said the Center for Disease Control and Prevention U.S..

The children explain 8 million of those infected, 36,000 of them who diopnam and 540 of those killed. 

"We think the number 540 is a better estimate for the big picture that we get there," said Dr. Anne Schuchat of the CDC told reporters.

Around 82 U.S. children died in an average flu season. The CDC says H1N1 has caused the worst flu season in the U.S. since 1997, when the current measures are initiated.

"What we saw in 2009 had never happened before," Schuchat said.

The CDC said doctors need to treat severe cases quickly with antiviral drugs like Tamiflu, made by Roche AG (ROG.VX), Relenza, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) or for severe cases of diopnam in particular, made by RioCryst.

Schuchat emphasized that the plague did not deteriorate but mention that it takes time to gather data in cases and deaths due to flu. Counts released Thursday was not the actual death count but the count, based on detailed data from 10 neara parts.

The CDC estimates about sebelunya swine flu deaths in the U.S. is 1,200 people.

In an average flu season, approximately 36,000 Americans die and 200,000 people are hospitalized with 90 percent of those who died and who diopnam over 65 years.

With H1N1, 90 percent of those infected are seriously ill adults and younger children.

Schuchat said the outbreak was likely to continue through the winter and early spring. "We face a long cold season ahead of us," he said.

Most of the confirmed cases of flu is H1N1 and about 30 percent of people who come to the doctor's office and actually tested for avian influenza to be suffering from, having to face some other infection.