1 in 1,000 Ind. residents has had H1N1

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - State Health Commissioner Dr. Judy Monroe said about one of every 1,000 Indiana residents has contracted the H1N1 flu virus so far -- and possibly several times that rate.

Monroe told a General Assembly panel on Tuesday that the Indiana State Department of Health estimates at least 6,000 people – and possibly as many as 23,000 -- have contracted the H1N1 virus in the state. The department has stopped counting cases.

Nearly three-fourths of the patients have been age 18 or younger.

Dr. Monroe said her agency expects to have enough vaccine to inoculate members of at-risk groups and enough anti-viral medication to treat everyone who needs it.