# 4080
Another bad week for influenza pediatric mortality to report.
After a drop in last week’s report to 21 deaths (ordinarily a very high number), the MMWR (US Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) is once again reporting 35 pediatric deaths for week 46, ending November 21st.
This week’s FluView report won’t be out until next Monday, I believe, due to the long Holiday weekend. Today’s release of the MMWR is a day earlier than normal.
While 35 pediatric deaths are reported, some of those may be from previous weeks (or even months), as sometimes there is a bit of lag time in testing and reporting.
But the 5-year weekly average for this time of year is Zero.
Week 46: 35 new deaths reported
Cumulative 2009: 301 total deaths reported
NH (1), MA (1), RI (2), PA (2), MN (1), MO (1), NC (2), FL (3), TN (1), TX (2), CO (1), NM (8), WA (1), CA (1), IL (3), IN (1), KY (1), NY (1), SC (2)
To put this into perspective, 2009 is on track to record 10 times as many pediatric influenza-related deaths as were reported to the CDC in either 2005 or 2006.
And, according to the CDC, the actual number of pediatric deaths is likely to be higher than is being reported.
