Swine flu may be peaking in U.S., reports indicate

(For more flu stories click on [ID:nWORLDFLU])

* Disease may be on the wane in many states

* 171 confirmed child deaths

* 54 million doses of vaccine packaged or given

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The pandemic of swine flu may be hitting a peak in the United States, health officials and Quest Diagnostics (DGX.N) said on Friday.

But both Quest and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stressed that influenza, especially a pandemic, can hit several peaks in a single season. They said weeks or months more of disease can be expected.

"We are beginning to see some declines in flu activity around the country but there is still a lot of influenza," the CDC's Dr. Anne Schuchat told a news conference.

"It is still much greater than we would normally see this time of year."

Separately, a team at Quest Diagnostics analyzed 142,000 flu tests and found a similar pattern.

"In the weeks following October 27, test demand for the virus has declined after several weeks of strong growth," the company, which processes commercial flu tests, said in a statement.

"The number of specimens that tested positive for 2009 H1N1 influenza dropped in all age groups since late October, with the exception of those 65 years of age and older," it added.

"Our data provides encouraging signs that the 2009 H1N1 pandemic virus isn't spreading as aggressively now as it did in September and most of October," Quest's Dr. Jay Lieberman said in a statement.

"This decline may be due to several factors, including infection of millions of Americans with this influenza virus and the impact of H1N1 vaccinations, which may have reduced the number of people susceptible to infection," he added.

CDC estimates that at least 22 million Americans have been infected, with 3,900 deaths.

The trend may be broad, the World Health Organization said, mentioning "early signs of a peak in disease activity in some areas of the northern hemisphere." [ID:nLK457990]

But even at a peak, more people remain to be infected. "The bottom line is that the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic in America is far from over," Lieberman said.

Schuchat pointed out that influenza can peak again and again. "There can be multiple ups and downs over the season. We have many weeks ahead of us where disease is going to be circulating," she said.

In the past week, 21 U.S. children have died from H1N1, bringing the total of pediatric deaths in the pandemic to 171. Schuchat noted these are just confirmed cases -- CDC estimates more than 500 children have died since April.

She said CDC is still struggling to get vaccines up to desired levels. More than 54 million doses have been ordered or are available to order.

The original hope had been to have 20 million doses a week rolling out by now, but only 11 million doses were produced, packaged and shipped in the past week. (Editing by Mohammad Zargham)