Death toll from flu rises as #H1N1 strain returns, with ‘young invincibles’ most affected

From the Washington Post
By Ariana Eunjung Cha, February 19, 2014
Excerpt:
The H1N1 virus responsible for the 2009 global pandemic is back. State health officials from across the country say the resurgence is resulting in a dramatic rise in flu deaths in young and middle-aged adults and in children this season. While the reported death tolls so far are only a fraction of what they were four years ago, they are significantly higher than last year. The Centers for Disease Control and Preventionsaid the flu has been killing at epidemic levels since mid-January.
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In recent months, the World Health Organization has been tracking more than 300 cases, mostly in China, of people infected by a dangerous avian influenza strain, H7N9. A quarter of those infected are estimated to have died, but so far the WHO says there is no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission.
In early February, there was more alarming news: Chinese officials, writing in the journal Lancet, said they identified yet another brand-new bird flu, H10N8, in a 73-year-old woman in Nanchang, a city in the southeastern part of the country. Researchers hypothesize that the woman, the first known death from this strain, may have contracted the virus while at a poultry market. The scientists warned that the virus could become extremely dangerous if it developed the ability to be transmitted from human to human. “The pandemic potential of this novel virus should not be underestimated,” the researchers concluded. 

Full article:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/death-toll-from-flu-rises-as-h1n1-strain-returnswith-young-invincibles-most-affected/2014/02/19/71f539f4-98b0-11e3-b931-0204122c514b_story.html