U.S. Should Expect Swine Flu Deaths: CDC

Meanwhile, the number of confirmed cases in the United States was raised to 68, with states and cities reporting more suspected cases. And in New York City, the health commissioner reported that “many hundreds” of schoolchildren were ill at a Catholic school in Queens, where students recently went on a spring break trip to Mexico.

Both Richard Besser, acting director of the CDC and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano warned about fatalities in the U.S.

Besser said:

“I fully expect we will see deaths from this infection."

Napolitano echoed that remark.

“It is very likely that we will see more serious presentations of illness and some deaths as we go through this flu cycle.

At the same time, California is looking at two suspected swine flu deaths; both will likely need autopsies to confirm or deny that they were a result of the contagion which appears to have began in Mexico, where over 150 have died.

While there is a measure of panic over the swine flu, which in this case is actually a combination of swine, avian and human flus, Napolitano pointed out that in a normal seasonal flue season, about 35,000 deaths are linked to influenza.