The New York Timesreports that the CDC is releasing the last of its Tamiflu stockpile. There have been 114 confirmed cases of child-related influenza deaths in the U.S. so far this year. However, the number may be closer to 300 because not all deaths are lab confirmed.
Even though the winter flu season has yet to begin, flu has now killed 114 children and teenagers in the United States since April, said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Since the C.D.C. began tracking children’s flu deaths five years ago, the highest toll was 88, in the winter of 2007-8; many more children died in the pandemics of 1918, 1957 and 1968, but there are no accurate counts.
Dr. Frieden’s figures were for deaths confirmed by laboratories. On Thursday, the C.D.C. estimated that in the swine flu’s spring wave there were 2.7 deaths for each confirmed one, so the actual number of children’s deaths may be closer to 300.
The Times says the CDC released its remaining 234,000 doses on Friday. More has been ordered but it is not coming until January. This combined with a H1N1 vaccine that is very slow in arriving could prove disastrous as swine flu continues to spread around the country. The CDC is considering importing a generic version of Tamiflu if it can get FDA approval. That sounds like it would be a wise move.
The New York Times 
