Eight local children hospitalized with H1N1 flu in Sept., Oct.; scope of outbreak prevents confirmation of other cases

   The eight local children who were hospitalized at Western Plains Medical Complex with confirmed H1N1 virus over the past two months don't come close to representing the actual numbers of Ford County kids who have been infected.
    However, eight was the official number of cases recorded by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, and it remains the official statistic.
    Skewed numbers like these are an indicator of the massive scope of the virus. Simply put, there are now just too many infected people to count.
    That's mainly why KDHE only accepts and records reports of hospitalized cases. The H1N1 virus is simply so widespread that not only are the state's labs unable to process the thousands of samples, but health officials have stopped testing all but the sickest patients.
   For the full story, go to dodgecitydailyglobe.ks.newsmemory.com.