Reuters reports:

The new influenza strain circulating around most of the United States is putting a worrying number of young adults and children into the hospital and hitting more schools than usual, U.S. health officials said on Monday.

The H1N1 swine flu virus killed a vice principal at a New York City school over the weekend and has spread to 48 states. While it appears to be mild, it is affecting a disproportionate number of children, teenagers and young adults.

This includes people needing hospitalization — now up to 200, said Dr. Anne Schuchat of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Normally, flu does not hit these younger people so strongly.

“That’s very unusual, to have so many people under 20 to require hospitalization, and some of them in (intensive care units),” Schuchat told reporters in a telephone briefing. (more…)

CNN reports:

Confirmed cases of swine flu jumped by more than 65 percent Saturday with the World Health Organization reporting 615 people in 15 countries infected with the virus commonly known as swine flu.

The organization had reported 367 cases on Friday. The jump in cases was due to ongoing testing of a backlog of specimens in Mexico, the WHO said.| MORE ›

The swine flu continues to spread over the American continent. The New York Times reports that eight New York students have fallen ill, probably suffering from this particular flu.| MORE ›

Vice President Joe Biden continues to make gaffe after gaffe. Appearing on the Democrats’ party network – MSNBC – yesterday, he told Americans not to enter into any “confined” places like classrooms, the subway, and planes.

No kidding.

Let us imagine that the swine flu is indeed dangerous (read: deadly).| MORE ›

Reuters reports:

Mexican and U.S. health officials searched on Saturday for signs an outbreak of a new flu strain is spreading further, after it killed up to 68 people in Mexico and infected eight in the United States.

As Mexico shut schools and museums and axed public events, global health officials stopped short of declaring a pandemic.| MORE ›