H1N1-Children fare worse: The Center for Disease Control says roughly 19 million children up to the age of 18 were infected by the H1N1 virus. An estimated 82,000 were hospitalized, two to three times the number admitted in a typical flu year. The childhood death toll is high too with two to three times as many confirmed swine flu deaths as in a typical flu year, 324 vs. 74. But, because only a fraction of those who contract the flu are tested for it, the actual death toll among children is likely even greater, an estimated 1,250, according to CDC's latest tally. There's another puzzle: In some young people, H1N1 damages the central nervous system far more often than other forms of flu.