As of  December 10, 2009 the CDC is reporting the 7th consecutive week of  national decreases in the number of doctor visits for flu-like illnesses. The CDC measures several key indicators: the number of medical office visits for influenza-like illness (IFI), the number of hospitalizations related to influenza and the number of deaths related to influenza. In all three measures, IFI has decreased although it still remains high for this time of year.

The number of pediatric deaths has reached 232 (laboratory confirmed cases of H1N1 ); 42 pediatric deaths were due to influenza (subtype unknown) and a further 2 pediatric deaths were due to seasonal influenza.

As of December 16th, about 60 million Americans have been vaccinated against H1N1 and there are about 111 million doses available. It is not too late to get vaccinated and the CDC hopes to release some of its supplies to large retail vendors.

If you haven’t yet received your H1N1 vaccine, you can call your local Board of Health to ask where you can get it.