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Federal officials said Wednesday that they have noticed “a worrisome spike in serious pneumococcal disease” linked to infections with pandemic H1N1 influenza.
The rate of infection is substantially higher than normal and striking younger people rather than the elderly, according to Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
Most of the pneumococcal infections can be prevented with a vaccine called Pneumovax, but only about a quarter of such people have received an immunization.
