The Centers For disease Control have lost the ability to track swine flu, according to Daniel Jernigan, MD, PhD, and deputy director of the CDC’s influenza division. Jernigan noted that the 4,714 confirmed or probable cases of swine flu reported to CDC represent a gross underestimate. When asked how many actual cases there were, Jernigan noted that 7% to 10% of the U.S. population — up to 30 million people — get the seasonal flu each year.br /br /”So with the amount of activity we are seeing now, it is a little hard to know what that means in terms of making an estimate now of the total number of people with flu out in the community,” Jernigan said. “But if I had to make an estimate, I would say … probably upwards of maybe 100,000.”br /br /The CDC’s most recent data, for the week ending May 9, shows that about half of Americans with confirmed flu had the H1N1 swine flu. If Jernigan’s off-the-cuff estimate is correct, more than 50,000 people in the U.S. have the new flu.br /br /At a time when flu season should be ending or over, the CDC’s flu season indicators are going up instead of down. As of May 9, 22 states had widespread or regional flu.br /br /Meanwhile, Maricopa County – home to Phoenix – reported that a woman in her late 40s died from complications of the H1N1 swine flu. She is the nation’s fourth H1N1 swine flu fatality. The woman had an underlying lung disease, according to the Maricopa County public health department.br /br /strongDr. Grout’s comment:/strongbr /br /Thankfully, swine flu has not turned out to be the pandemic that some feared. However, there is a valid question about what will happen this fall. The concern is that the H1N1 genetic code could mix with various seasonal flu strains, creating a lethal and contagious strain at a time vitamin D reserves are low. The 1918 pandemic struck during the winter months when people were most vulnerable with vitamin D deficiency. Influenza is an Italian word that may have originated in the mid-18th century as influenza di freddo, or “influence of the cold.” During winter, we are exposed to less sunlight and our bodies make less a href=”http://www.arizonaadvancedmedicine.com/articles/skin_cancer.html”Vitamin D/a which nourishes the immune system.br /br /Mankind was designed to bask in the rays of the sun. About 90 percent of the vitamin D in your body is made when your skin is exposed to sunlight. Only about 10 percent comes from food – butter, egg yolk, fish oil, and human milk.br /br /The preparation for swine flu is two-fold: build a strong immune system, and be able to destroy the pathogen if the immune system cannot do it on its own. The potential for a more robust version of swine flu this fall is one more reason to go free of a href=”http://www.arizonaadvancedmedicine.com/articles/sugar.html”sugar/a, white flour, and all those things we know weaken the a href=”http://www.arizonaadvancedmedicine.com/articles/immune_system_dysfunction.html”immune system/a. In our a href=”http://www.arizonaadvancedmedicine.com/newsletters/Apr2009.html”special advisory/a on swine flu last month, we described the various tools we have to kill the pathogen.div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4769404502414351890-7062585706585921165?l=arizonaadvancedmedicine.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div