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Two novel influenza A (H1N1) cases were identified in California in mid-April 2009. Shortly thereafter, the California Department of Public Health initiated enhanced surveillance for patients hospitalized with this illness (confirmed or probable). Confirmed cases were positive by CDC protocol for real-time reverse-transcriptase PCR (rRT-PCR) for novel influenza A H1N1 virus; probable cases involved rRT-PCR detection of an influenza A virus unsubtypable as H1 or H3.
As of May 17, 2009, 30 patients with confirmed or probable novel influenza A (H1N1) virus infection had been hospitalized for ≥24 hours. These patients came from 11 California counties and ranged in age from 27 days to 89 years; 70% were female. Of 26 patients for whom ethnicity w…