As H1N1 cases are rising, so are bacterial pneumonia cases, health officials are finding.

    They're seeing an increase in flu complications leading to pneumonia. At the same time, the flu is at record levels because of the new H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu.

    The number of cases is outpacing the typical number of regular flu cases at this time of year. Cases of regular flu usually peak between December and May.

    "We're seeing an increase in serious pneumococcal infectious around the country," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, who heads the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    Special Coverage: H1N1 -- Fighting swine flu

    The CDC tracks pneumococcal infections with help from 10 state health departments.

    For instance, Denver, Colorado, averages about 20 cases of pneumonia in October during a regular flu season, Schuchat said. But "in October 2009, they had nearly triple that number."

    The Denver area has seen 58 flu-related pneumonia cases, and at least two-thirds of those sickened were aged 20 to 60, she said.

    During a regular flu season, most serious cases of flu and flu-related pneumonia occur in people 65 or older. However, people younger than 65 are much more vulnerable to H1N1, because the virus is unlike any other flu their bodies have come in contact with.

    A flu infection thins the lining of the respiratory tract, making the lungs more vulnerable to bacteria that can cause pneumonia.

    CDC officials are urging high-risk adults to get vaccinations against both pneumonia and H1N1.

    Smokers and people with diabetes; chronic heart, lung and liver disease; or HIV are considered high-risk.

    Only 25 percent of high-risk adults under age 65 have gotten a pneumonia vaccination, Schuchat said at a news briefing Wednesday.

    "It's a vaccine you pretty much get once as an adult, not every year, the way the flu vaccine works," she said.

    The CDC also announced that 7 million more doses of H1N1 vaccine have been made available since Friday, bringing the total doses available so far to 61.2 million.

    CDC officials have studied safety data since H1N1 vaccinations started in early October.

    "So far, everything we've seen is very reassuring," Schuchat said. " … we're seeing patterns that are pretty much exactly what were seeing with the seasonal flu vaccine."

    Most of the reported side effects include sore arms and tenderness at the injection site.

    Health officials are particularly interested in a side effect that can cause a rare neurological illness called Guillain-Barre syndrome, because the last time a large-scale pandemic vaccination program was launched, in 1976, there was an alarming rise in Guillain-Barre cases.

    This time, after millions of Americans have been vaccinated, Schuchat said, only 10 potential cases of Guillain-Barre have been reported, which is similar to what health officials see during a regular flu season.

    衛生部發現隨著H1N1感染病例的增加，細菌性肺炎病例也在增加。

    他們看到流感導致的肺炎的增加。同時，由于新的H1N1病毒也就是豬流感，使流感在記錄層。

    今年，這些病例數量上超過了典型的常規流感病例。普通流感通常在11月和5月間高發。

    國家疾病控制和預防中心的免疫和呼吸系統疾病主管Anne Schuchat醫生說："國內嚴重的肺炎鏈球菌感染的病例在增加。"

    特殊的覆蓋性：H1N1-豬流感的發現

    疾病控制和預防中心追蹤來自10個州衛生部門的肺炎球菌感染病例。

    舉個例子：Schuchat說科羅拉多州的丹弗，在通常的流感季節的10月份，平均有20個肺炎病例，"但在2009年的10月，這個數字接近3倍。"

    她說：丹弗已有58個流感-相關的肺炎病例，其中至少2/3是年齡20到60歲的。

    通常流感季節，大部分嚴重的流感或流感相關的肺炎病例發生在65歲以上的人群。而不同于其他流感的是，對H1N165歲一下的人群更易感。

    流感使呼吸道變薄，使肺更容易感染細菌導致肺炎。

    疾病控制和預防中心正在敦促高風險的成年人接種疫苗抵御肺炎和H1N1.

    煙民、糖尿病患者、慢性心肺以及肝臟疾病或艾滋病患者被認為是高風險人群。

    她說："成年人接種一次疫苗，就會有作用了，不必每年都接種。

    疾病控制和預防中心也宣稱自五月份已經制備了7,000,000更大劑量的H1N1疫苗，使到目前為止總劑量達到61,200,000.

    疾病控制和預防中心已經研究了自H1N1疫苗在10月早期注射以來的安全資料。

    "到目前為止，我們看到情況還是令人安慰的，"Schuchat說"我們看到季節性流感疫苗的情況和我們希望看到的情況是一致的。"

    大多數報道的副作用包括注射部位的胳膊酸或輕微疼痛。

    衛生官員特別對一種罕見的稱為Guillain-Barre綜合征的神經系統的副作用感興趣。因為在1976年，進行持續的大比例流感疫苗接種，Guillain-Barre出現了令人擔憂的增加。

    Schuchat說這一次，在百萬美國人接種后，只有10例潛在的Guillain-Barre病例被報道。這個情況與衛生官員在通常流感季節看到的情況相似。