Health Alerts > 12/2/09 H1N1 update

December 2, 2009

During week 46 (November 15-21, 2009), influenza activity continued to decrease in the U.S.

• Over 99% of all subtyped influenza A viruses being reported to CDC were 2009 influenza A (H1N1) viruses.
• The proportion of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza (P&I) was above the epidemic threshold for the eighth consecutive week.
• Thirty-five influenza-associated pediatric deaths were reported.
• The proportion of outpatient visits for influenza-like illness (ILI) was 4.3% which is above the national baseline of 2.3%. All 10 regions reported ILI above region-specific baseline levels.
• The majority of 2009 influenza A (H1N1) viruses are susceptible to the neuraminidase inhibitor antiviral medication oseltamivir; however, rare sporadic cases of oseltamivir resistant 2009 influenza A (H1N1) viruses have been detected worldwide. A total of 23 cases of oseltamivir resistant 2009 influenza A (H1N1) viruses have been identified in the United States since April 2009.

Local Alert

Potentially Fraudulent Email Related to H1N1 Vaccine

Some providers have reported receiving a potentially fraudulent email similar to the document 
available at the following link:  https://healthnet.isdh.in.gov/datacenter/apps/HANAlerts/Attachments/CDC%20fraudulent%20email.pdf 

The email appears to come from CDC but instead points users to a fake website that may be phishing 
for personal information. Grantees are advised to avoid clicking on embedded links to sites that are not familiar to them.  
Grantees should also consider advising providers of H1N1 vaccine that fraudulent emails may be 
going around. 

The messages request that users must create a personal H1N1 (swine flu) Vaccination Profile on the cdc.gov website. The message then states that anyone that has reached the age of 18 has to have his/her personal Vaccination Profile on the cdc.gov site.

The CDC has NOT implemented a state vaccination program requiring registration on www.cdc.gov. Users that click on the email are at risk of having malicious code installed on their system. If you receive such an email or have questions about the authenticity of emails received from CDC, please avoid clicking on any of the embedded links.  Also, you are advised to do the following:

•Do not follow unsolicited links and do not open or respond to unsolicited email messages

•Use caution when visiting un-trusted websites

•Use caution when entering personal information online.

Questions call Deb McMahan, MD