# 4048
A subject we’ve discussed many times before, but it is always good to get confirmation from someone in the field, who is actually seeing the victims of this pandemic.
In this case, a county Medical Examiner.
The CDC has estimated that, as of more than a month ago, roughly 3,900 Americans had died from the virus. Several times higher than than previously reported.
Many deaths will go uncounted because not everyone who dies as a result of the H1N1 virus will get tested or autopsied, and many of those won’t show the pneumonia signatures that this medical examiner is seeing.
For more information on the difficulties in detecting and counting H1N1 deaths see When No Number Is Right.
This report from KCCI-TV Channel 8, Des Moines.
Polk Coroner: H1N1 Deaths Understated
Medical Examiner Says He's Autopsied Undiagnosed Patients
POSTED: 8:31 pm CST November 19, 2009
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Iowa has officially recorded 21 H1N1 deaths, including seven in Polk County alone. But the county's medical examiner said he has performed autopsies on some residents who were never diagnosed with H1N1, but actually had it.
"In the autopsy, what we're seeing is very heavy, wet hemorrhagic lungs, lungs with a lot of blood in them," said Dr. Gregory Schmunk.
He said the official count of seven H1N1 deaths is inaccurate, but patient rights laws prohibit him from giving specific numbers.
He said there are two reasons for the discrepancy. First, not all sick patients get tests and second, the virus is difficult to detect. Some patients may be too sick to receive the most accurate H1N1 test.
"They're not always done and it can be hazardous to the patient if they're in a respiratory critical situation," Schmunk said.
He also said that some tests reveal a false negative.
"Because of our limitations on testing, sometimes the tests aren't positive," he said. "They do appear to fit clinically the course of a H1N1 viral-type pneumonia."
He said the cases he's seen in Polk County were all middle-aged adults with a few underlying health conditions.
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