Thursday, April 7, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Lyme Disease: Misdiagnosed, Underreported—and Epidemic
Lyme is one of the most serious epidemics of our time. Yet the opinions of 2% of the medical community are dominating the beliefs and practices of the mass majority of practicing Lyme physicians!
The number of Lyme disease cases in the United States has doubled since 1991. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that there are nearly 325,000 new cases each year—making Lyme disease an epidemic larger than AIDS, West Nile Virus, and Avian Flu combined.
Yet, only a fraction of these cases are being treated, due to inaccurate tests and underreporting. Each year, hundreds of thousands go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, often told that their symptoms are all in their head.
You may well ask, “If it’s such a huge epidemic, why are we not hearing anything about it?”
The media is silent because doctors and insurance companies alike dismiss it as being a hypochondriacal illness, just as they’ve done for years to sufferers of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.
It can be expensive to treat—untold numbers have it, and there is no protocol that is completely effective for all patients, no sure-fire cure.
And at the root of it all, one Lyme disease organization, in its desire for power and control, is pitting doctors against doctors, prompting health insurance companies to deny medical claims at an alarming rate, and leaving suffering patients stuck in the middle.
Lyme disease (named after the town of Lyme, Connecticut, where a number of cases were identified in 1975) is a seriously complex multi-system inflammatory disease that is triggered by the bacterial lipoproteins (BLPs) produced by spiral-shaped bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi, also called Bb. Bb are difficult to isolate, grow, and study in the laboratory.
Moreover, there are five subspecies of Bb, over 100 strains in the US, and 300 strains worldwide. This diversity is thought to contribute to its ability to evade the immune system and antibiotic therapy, leading to chronic infection.
Transmission of Bb occurs primarily through the bite of ticks, though fewer than 50% of patients with Lyme disease recall a tick bite. In some studies this number is as low as 15%.
The disease affects every tissue and every major organ system in the body. Clinically, it can appear as a chronic arthalgia (joint pain), fibromyalgia (fibrous connective tissue and muscle pain), chronic fatigue, brain fog, immune dysfunction, and neurological disease. Lyme disease may even be fatal in severe cases.
Standard medical treatment usually involves antibiotics. In some patients, Lyme disease can be fairly easy to treat, while in others, it can feel like a never-ending battle.
One reason treatment is difficult is because Bb has an in vitro replication cycle of about seven days, one of the longest of any known bacteria. Antibiotics are most effective during bacterial replication, so the more cycles during a treatment, the better.
Since the life cycle of Streptococcus pyogenes (the bacterium that causes strep throat) is about eight hours, antibiotic treatment for a standard ten days would cover thirty life cycles. To treat Lyme disease for a comparable number of life cycles, treatment would need to last thirty weeks.
In addition, there are frequently co-infections—other tick-transmitted diseases—that come along for the ride, most often Babesia, Anaplasma, Ehrlichia and Bartonella. If left untreated, their continued presence increases the length of the illness and prevents successful treatment of Lyme disease.
Chronic Lyme Disease (CLD) is a systemic, debilitating condition which persists despite antibiotic therapy. Nearly a decade ago, Irwin Vanderhoof, PhD, a professor at the New York University Stern School of Business, estimated that CLD cost society nearly $1 billion per year.
That estimate has since skyrocketed to about $2 billion per year, including diagnosis, treatment, and lost wages, according to Contingencies, but this being an actuarial trade publication for the insurance industry, the real figure is probably much higher.
Four NIH trials have validated the severity of CLD. The well-documented studies looked at Lyme disease patients at various points from six months to nine years after antibiotic therapy was completed.
As many as 62% of them were found to have arthritis or recurrent arthralgias, neurocognitive impairment (including objective memory impairment), neuropathy or myelopathy, persistent musculoskeletal pain, and dysesthesia (a condition caused by lesions of the nervous system that causes abnormal sensations such as prickling, itching, burning, or electrical shock), often with persistent, severe fatigue.
Despite these studies, many physicians continue to deny the existence of CLD, which can hinder efforts to find a solution—and without consensus from mainstream Western medicine, insurance companies will rarely provide treatment, and disability coverage is routinely denied.
As Raphael Stricker et al. noted in a 2005 article, the political battle over Lyme disease features two polarized medical camps.
The dominant camp, represented by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (ISDA), adheres to the philosophy that the disease is “hard to catch and easy to cure,” and that chronic infection with Bb is extremely rare or nonexistent.
The opposing camp, represented by the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS), views Lyme disease as an underreported and growing menace that often fails to respond to standard antibiotic therapy, resulting in a chronic debilitating infection that requires prolonged antibiotic treatment. This chart outlines the differences in their approaches to treatment.
This difference of opinion has resulted in frequent denial of treatment for patients with CLD and prosecution of healthcare providers who treat these patients, and over the past decade the “Lyme Wars” have become progressively more acrimonious.
ISDA is controversial not only because of its views, but because of serious conflicts of interest alleged against its leadership. In 2008, then Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, now a US Senator, conducted an antitrust investigation of ISDA which uncovered serious flaws in its 2006 Lyme disease guidelines.
“My office uncovered undisclosed financial interests held by several of the most powerful IDSA panelists. The IDSA’s guideline panel improperly ignored or minimized consideration of alternative medical opinion and evidence regarding chronic Lyme disease, potentially raising serious questions about whether the recommendations reflected all relevant science.”
One big problem is that most doctors follow a standard (but arbitrary) two-tier diagnostic protocol, requiring both a positive ELISA and Western Blot test. But despite the fact that this approach fails to detect up to 90% of cases and does not distinguish between acute, chronic, or resolved infection, these criteria have been used as rigid diagnostic benchmarks that have prevented individuals with Lyme disease from obtaining treatment.
Moreover, physicians not familiar with the complex clinical presentation of Lyme disease frequently misdiagnose it as multiple sclerosis, lupus, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, rheumatoid arthritis, motor neuron disease (ALS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis—Lou Gherig’s disease), Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome (MCS), or numerous other psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety.
According to ILADS, other tests for Lyme disease include antigen capture, urine antigen, and polymerase chain reaction. Each has advantages and disadvantages in terms of convenience, cost, assay standardization, availability, and reliability.
One hopeful area of research looks at live cultures under a fluorescent microscope, and measures the live organisms in the bloodstream, so one can keep retesting to see which therapies are working and which aren’t.
This is a critical difference. An antibody test only shows whether you have been exposed to the illness. A live organism test shows whether you are recovering or have recovered.
A very promising live test, the Bowen test, was severely attacked by critics of long-term Lyme treatment and is no longer available.
Many insurance companies consider alternative tests “experimental and investigational,” and won’t pay for them. If more accurate tests aren’t allowed, the determination of Lyme depends on fallible tests, which greatly limits insurance companies’ financial involvement.
Moreover, the therapies allowed by insurance companies are the most conservative ones—intravenous antibiotics at most—and only for a limited time under limited circumstances. If they don’t fix you, that’s just too bad!
Comparatively few MDs in the country are knowledgeable about Lyme disease; they are often called Lyme-literate MDs. Most LLMDs know about Lyme disease because they have studied it independently. But they are often harassed by the medical community, health officials, state medical boards, and insurance companies for diagnosing and treating Lyme patients beyond the standards set by the establishment.
Notable cases were filed against Joseph Burrascano in New York and Joseph Jemsek in North Carolina, forcing them into bankruptcy or leaving them no alternative but to close or relocate their practices.
A few Lyme physicians have had their medical licenses revoked. Some LLMDs have discontinued treating Lyme patients due to the harassment. Finding one nearby or who will take new patients can be a real struggle for patients.
There are a great many alternative therapies being used to treat Lyme disease. One reason for this is that while many therapies show promise, none is a definitive cure. Besides antibiotics, many integrative physicians prescribe a program of vitamins, nutritional supplements, herbs, and antiviral and antibacterial neutraceuticals.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has offered significant alleviation of symptoms, and intravenous vitamin C is once again proving successful.
Traditional Chinese Medicine protocols (Chinese herbs, acupuncture, etc.) frequently achieve positive results—they are generally the same for Lyme disease as for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and fibromyalgia, since their symptoms so frequently overlap.
Other important research is being done by Dr. Rich Van Konynenburg, who also sees a link between Lyme and CFS.
What if you become disabled from Lyme disease?
Currently, Lyme disease is not listed in the Social Security Administration’s impairment listing manual, so disability would be denied on the basis of an LD diagnosis alone. However, Lyme sufferers may apply for Social Security Disability or Supplemental Security Income benefits based on their resulting physical restrictions and functional limitations.
A documentary film, Under Our Skin, follows the stories of patients and physicians fighting for their lives and livelihoods, presenting a haunting picture of a healthcare system and a medical establishment all too willing to put profits ahead of patients.
In the months ahead, ANH-USA will work to educate public figures about the tragedy of long-term Lyme sufferers and how the medical system is failing them.
From our good friends at the Alliance for Natural Health: http://www.anh-usa.org/httpwww-anh-usa-orglyme-disease-misdiagnosed-underreported%e2%80%94and-epidemic/
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Sunday, January 9, 2011
Scientists: Bacteria May Cause Atherosclerosis
Here's an interesting Science Daily article explaining how recent medical studies have determined that certain bacteria -- including bacteria from the teeth and gums -- can be a causative agent in atherosclerosis, or heart disease.
Though it is not a new hypothesis, doctors seem to be astonished at this finding.
Which is funny, to me, because nearly two years ago health journalist Angela Kaelin wrote about this very subject in a Colloidal Silver Secrets blog post , titled "Colloidal Silver, Oral Health and Heart Health." (See reprint at this link).
She pointed out that "poor dental hygiene and bleeding gums could allow up to 700 different types of bacteria to enter the bloodstream, which, studies show, increases your risk of a heart attack regardless of how fit and healthy you are," and explaining how colloidal silver can help destroy pathogens in the mouth before they migrate through the bloodstream and to the arteries and heart.
Another article explains how colloidal silver is extremely effective against the oral bacterial that causes periodontal disease and plaque.
It's good to see the mainstream medical science publications finally catching up the natural health crowd, huh?
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Wednesday, November 3, 2010
How To Treat a Cold Without Drugs
Over-the-counter cold medicines won’t heal a winter virus faster – and some will even prolong it. But the best remedies don’t need a trip to the drug store , says Kate Hilpern
The average adult gets two to five colds a year. Children suffer the worst, with seven to 10 a year.
The news today is that scientists may in the near future be able to cure colds and other viruses. But for now, only the immune system can cure a cold and in most cases, it takes four to seven days.
Conventional medicines might provide relief from symptoms, but don’t work against the virus or help our immune system throw off the infection. Some don’t even do that. Standard cough medicines, for instance, have been found to be no better than placebo. Some doctors say suppressing coughs can be a bad thing since they are nature’s way of getting rid of respiratory debris. The good news is, you can take action to help your cold without even going out.
Inhale steam
“The common cold is a collection of different viruses and your immune system’s response to them causes the symptoms of inflamed nasal passage and lining of the sinuses – which causes sneezing, runny nose and sore eyes,” explains Professor Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners. “The best way to reduce this inflammation is to keep the nasal passages clear. Steam is wonderful at achieving this.”
Put a towel over your head and inhale steam from a bowl of boiling water, ideally using drops of a plant oil such as eucalyptus or olbas oil for added relief. “Or take a nice hot shower with plenty of steam or sit in a really steamy bathroom – particularly good for children,” adds Professor Field.
Have a hot drink
Hot drinks work wonders, says Professor Ron Eccles, director of the Common Cold Research Centre at Cardiff University. One study found the effects of a hot fruit drink on nasal airflow and common cold and flu symptoms were surprisingly positive. “The hot drink provided immediate and sustained relief from symptoms of runny nose, cough, sneezing, sore throat, chilliness and tiredness,” he says.
Drinks with slightly bitter flavours are particularly beneficial. Many doctors suggest hot water with honey (a mild antiseptic), grated ginger (anti-inflammatory) and fresh lemon (tastes nice but the claim that vitamin C can cure colds is still unproven).
Eat chicken soup – or some curry
The brothy goodness of home-made soup has everything going for it, particularly if it’s chicken. It flushes out the nasal passages with its aromatic steaming and offers hydration and comfort.
There are also claims that chicken has anti-viral properties, particularly if the skin is left in, and in 2000, scientists at the University of Nebraska Medical Centre in Omaha found that some components of chicken soup inhibit neutrophil migration, which may have an anti-inflammatory effect that could perhaps lead to a temporary easing of the symptoms of illness.
A cold is a good excuse for a hot curry, says Professor Eccles. “Spicy food and drink promotes salivation and airway mucus secretions that soothe coughs and sore throats,” he explains.
Take it easy
Take one or preferably two days away from the office, insists Dr Beata O’Donoghue, sleep consultant at the London Clinic. You will save others from your germs and a cold can be the body’s way of telling us to take a break. She says: “Listen to your body. We do not repair ourselves during wakefulness, but during sleep.” Professor Field agrees: “With any virus that involves inflammation, even light exercise can be harmful, especially as we get older.”
Drink water
“When the body is fighting infection, it becomes dehydrated,” says Dr Rob Hicks, GP and author of Old-fashioned Remedies From Arsenic to Gin. “You need plenty of fluids.” Provided it’s not alcohol anything palatable is acceptable, says Hicks. Others disagree. Soft drinks contain high levels of sugar, which means they are absorbed much more slowly than water so they don’t hydrate the body as quickly. Really high-sugar drinks cause a rapid rise in blood sugar level, followed by a sudden dip, making you feel worse.
By the time you feel thirsty, dehydration has set in – so drink regularly.
Raid your store cupboard
“Nutrients with potential immune-boosting properties include vitamin A (in eggs, milk and orange fruit and vegetables such as carrots and apricots), vitamin E (nuts, grains, vegetable oils and wheatgerm) and selenium (in brazil nuts, seafood, meat, and poultry),” says Sara Stanner of the Nutrition Society. And try to eat as much garlic as possible because of its antimicrobial action.
De-stress
Everyday life pressures can make you more susceptible, says Professor Eccles: “Experiments on volunteers show they are more likely to become infected if they have recently suffered problems.” Stress has long been associated with the suppression of general resistance to infection.
Wrap up warm
“Granny was right as far as wrapping up warm is concerned, in the prevention of colds,” says Dr Rob Hicks. “When the nostrils get cold, the immune system functions less efficiently. And if your temperature falls, your immune system is not as efficient.”
You could also try...
* Blowing your nose regularly rather than sniffing the mucus back into your head. Ideally, press a finger over one nostril while you blow gently to clear the other.
* Gargling can moisten a sore throat to bring temporary relief. Try a teaspoon of salt dissolved in warm water, four times daily. Or use honey, popular in folk medicine.
* Sleeping with an extra pillow will help with the drainage of nasal passages.
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
From: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/how-to-treat-a-cold-without-drugs-2122568.html
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Additional Helpful Links:
A FAST Way to Stop Colds Before They Get Started
4 Effective Ways to Deal With Pesky Sinus Problems
Detoxifying Naturally From Flu Vaccines
Defending Against Flu With Colloidal Silver
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Finland proposes suspending its H1N1 (Swine Flu) vaccine as links to increased narcolepsy in children surface; Sweden also investigating...
The news article below demonstrates another great reason to own a high-quality colloidal silver generator so you can make your own safe, natural colloidal silver for just pennies.After all colloidal silver is one of the most powerful natural antiviral substances on the face of the earth, as many studies have demonstrated.
Vitamin D is another great choice for your winter immune-boosting arsenal. After all, clinical studies have shown that daily supplementation with Vitamin D slashes flu risk in children by a whopping 50%, and is actually far better than vaccines at stopping flu infection.
You’d think the medical establishment would be pumping out press releases telling parents to stock up on Vitamin D for the winter, and start giving it to their kids.
But no. Instead, they’re cranking up the usual fall and winter propaganda campaign, urging parents to get their kids vaccinated with the new flu vaccine – which this year contains components for two seasonal flu strains and the H1N1 “Swine Flu” strain.
Is It Wise to Have Your Kids Injected With H1N1?
Now we have the news from Finland that the Finnish National Institute for Health has proposed suspending Swine Flu vaccines, due to suspected links to narcolepsy in children.
Narcolepsy, of course, is a chronic sleep disorder characterized by excessive sleepiness and extreme fatigue. It is somewhat like another condition called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which is often thought to be triggered by Epstein-Barr viral infections.
But Narcolepsy is much more intense and often causes people to fall asleep uncontrollably at inappropriate times and inappropriate places.
My take on the whole issue is that people should avoid the flu jab like the plague, and stick with natural protocols that boost immunity and help kill viruses. There are many options, such as:
· Colloidal Silver – natural immune booster and infection fighting agent
· Vitamin D – prevents flu infection better than vaccines
· Beta-1/3,1/6-Glucan – boosts the body’s immune system by triggering macrophages
· Cat’s Claw – powerful immune-boosting herbal supplement
· Pregnenolone – boosts immunity, mood, memory, libido and reduces stress
· B-12 – plays a critical role in immune system regulation by boosting natural killer cell activity
There are many, many more safe, natural ways to boost immunity and fight infection. Those are just a few.
And over the course of this fall and winter we’ll be looking at other options you might also want to consider. After all, when governments start suspending vaccinations at the very start of the flu season, you know something is bad wrong somewhere.
It’s high time people start learning to take back their power from the medical monopoly and their toxic products, and start taking responsibility for their own health, naturally.
-- Spencer
Finland suspends H1N1 (Swine Flu) vaccine due as links to increased narcolepsy in children and adolescents surface…
The Finnish National Institute for Health (THL) proposed suspending vaccinations for H1N1 swine flu, due to suspected links to increased narcolepsy in children and adolescents, the body announced this week.
Six cases of narcolepsy, a chronic disorder causing excessive daytime sleepiness and extreme fatigue, have been reported after patients had been receiving the Pandemrix vaccine.
Six cases of narcolepsy is consistent with annual averages, reports THL, but all of these patients were affected after being vaccinated, and there are nine additional cases that have not yet been confirmed.
The precautionary measure will take effect until the actual cause of the current health issue can be established. Preliminary results of the investigation will take several months to be known, says the THL.
“A number of different reasons may be behind the observed rise in the incidence of narcolepsy: A(H1N1) infection, vaccination, a compound effect of infection and vaccination, or some other factor entirely. Infections in general are known to cause narcolepsy,” said a THL press release.
In Sweden, the Medical Products Agency started a similar investigation on Aug. 19 for the same reason. Sweden has bought 18 million doses of the vaccine, sufficient for everyone in the country to have two injections. In Europe, about 30 million people have been vaccinated, and worldwide at least 90 million.
From: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/41604/
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Friday, November 20, 2009
Procter & Gamble recalls Vicks nasal spray over bacteria fears
As the news article below demonstrates, chemical-laden over-the-counter products like commercial nasal sprays always carry the risk of bacterial contamination, not to mention the hidden dangers from the potentially toxic chemicals you're sniffing up your nose and into your sinuses and lungs.
Using colloidal silver with a simple device called a neti pot, is a far more effective way to deal with sinus problems.
Another simple way to fight sinus infections with colloidal silver is to purchase one of those tiny, plastic nasal spray squeeze bottles full of saline solution, which you can get at any pharmacy. Empty the tiny bottle of the saline solution and wash and rinse it well. Then re-fill it (about half full) with colloidal silver and sniff it up the nose three or four times a day. Sinus problems disappear like magic!
Another safe, natural supplement for sinus problems is NAC, also known as n-acetyl-cysteine. We have recommended it in the pages of this blog several times, in relation to its ability to de-toxify the body of mercury and other toxic byproducts of vaccines. But one of its many other proven uses is for sinus relief.-- Spencer
Procter & Gamble recalls Vicks nasal spray over bacteria fears
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/health/article6924626.ece
Francesca Steele
Procter & Gamble (P&G) has recalled 120,000 bottles of Vicks Sinex nasal spray after finding traces of bacteria in the product.
No illnesses have been reported yet but the bacteria, known as B. cepacia, could cause serious infections for an individual with a compromised immune system or a chronic lung condition such as cystic fibrosis, P&G said.
The affected product was sold only in the US, Germany and the UK.
P&G detected the problem in a routine quality control at its German plant in Gross Gerau, it said.
It found the bacteria in a small number of bottles from a lot sold in the US and is testing the UK and German lots that were produced from the same batch of raw material mixture.
Shares in P&G fell marginally in the US yesterday, down one per cent to 62.15 cents.
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Death by Tamiflu-Resistant Swine Flu, or Death by Tamiflu?
I find several things interesting and disconcerting about the below news article.First, the cluster of Tamiflu-resistant swine flu is all in the same state.
Second, the latest four victims were all patients in the same hospital.
Third, they were all hospitalized for reasons other than the flu, which is to say, they caught the flu in the hospital.
And fourth, they were all given Tamiflu, and three out of four of them died.
Considering reports coming in from other countries of Tamiflu's toxicity, which in a number of cases has led to patient deaths (see here, and here), couldn't it have been the Tamiflu that killed these latest victims?
Might not the growing news reports of "Tamiflu-resistant swine flu" be exaggerated cover-ups for the simple fact that Tamiflu is still killing people, particularly when it is adminstered to people who are already sick with other illnesses?
I don't know about you, but I think I'll do my darndest to stay out of hospitals, and stick with my high-dose Vitamin C, a good probiotic supplement, plenty of Vitamin D3, and of course my favorite all-natural antiviral supplement, colloidal silver. See http://www.colloidalsilverkillsviruses.com/
-- Spencer
Tamiflu-resistant swine flu cluster reported in NC
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091120/ap_on_he_me/us_med_swine_flu
By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer Mike Stobbe, Ap Medical Writer
ATLANTA – Four North Carolina patients at a single hospital tested positive for a type of swine flu that is resistant to Tamiflu, health officials said Friday.
The cases reported at Duke University Medical Center over six weeks make up the biggest cluster seen so far in the U.S.
Tamiflu — made by Switzerland's Roche Group — is one of two flu medicines that help against swine flu, and health officials have been closely watching for signs that the virus is mutating, making the drugs ineffective.
More than 50 resistant cases have been reported in the world since April, including 21 in the U.S. Almost all in the U.S. were isolated, said officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The BBC reported another cluster of five Tamiflu-resistant cases this week in Wales, in the United Kingdom.
The CDC has sent three disease investigators to North Carolina to help in the investigation there, said Dave Daigle, a CDC spokesman. CDC testing confirmed the Tamiflu-resistant cases.
All four cases at the hospital were very ill patients in an isolated cancer unit on the hospital's ninth floor, and it is believed they all caught the flu while at the hospital, said Dr. Daniel Sexton, professor of medicine and director of the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network.
Three of the four patients died and one is recovering, he said. Flu seems to have been a factor in each death, but they were very sick so it was hard to say that it was the primary cause, he added.
North Carolina health officials did not disclose details about the four patients, other than that three of them — including the survivor — were women and their flu illnesses occurred last month and this month.
The first patient had been given Tamiflu before becoming ill with the virus, as a preventive measure. The three others were given Tamiflu after developing flu symptoms, Sexton said.
The case is under investigation, but hospital officials said they have no evidence the cases represent a hospital-wide concern.
The North Carolina cluster is unusual, but "at this time we don't have any information that should raise concerns for the general population," said Dr. Alicia Frye, epidemiologist in the CDC's flu division, in a prepared statement.
The only other reported U.S. instance of Tamiflu-resistant swine flu spreading from one person to another occurred about four months ago at a summer camp in western North Carolina, where two teenage girls — cabin mates — were diagnosed with the same drug-resistant strain. Health officials said at the time that the virus may have spread from one girl to the other, or it's possible that the girls got it from another camper.
Why did both Tamiflu-resistant clusters occur in North Carolina? It could be coincidence, or perhaps North Carolina's disease surveillance is unusually good, said Megan Davies, the state's epidemiologist.
Overall, CDC officials said Friday that swine flu cases appear to be declining throughout most of the U.S., with reports of swine flu illnesses widespread in 43 states last week, down from 46 the week before.
CDC officials also said reports have been increasing in a few states, including Maine and Hawaii. They said it's hard to know whether the epidemic has peaked or not.
Thanksgiving and the holidays may not help matters, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, who heads the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
"All the kids get together with their grandparents and there's a lot of exchange of warmth and love, but a little exchange of viruses, too," she said.
Swine flu has sickened an estimated 22 million Americans, hospitalized about 98,000 and killed 4,000 since it was first identified last April. It has proved to be similar to seasonal flu but a much bigger threat to children and young adults.
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