Remember swine flu? According to newly released information, this recent nationwide epidemic is likely sooo 2009.
According to Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University, a leading preventative medicine expert, the worst of the H1N1 outbreak is over here in the US — and likely won’t be back anytime soon. (Gee, what a difference a few months makes. In the fall, I think many of us were afraid to leave the house without a mask and a boatload of hand sanitizer.)
Schaffner told The Associated Press the epidemic “has one foot in the grave,” thanks in part to the 70 million Americans who received the swine flu vaccine, and millions more who contracted the nasty flu and recovered, building up a natural immunity. Schaffner pointed out that about 40 percent of Americans now have a resistance to the swine flu one way or the other, which will make a new wave of the disease unlikely to be overly widespread.
But don’t pack away your hand sanitizer quite so fast. While the Centers for Disease Control does confirm that swine flu cases have declined since October, and that no states have reported widespread activity in the past four weeks, they are still advising Americans to get their H1N1 vaccines if they haven’t already.
CDC respiratory disease chief Dr. Anne Schuchat told reporters at a news conference this past week that even though another big swine flu wave might not break out all over the country, individuals are still contracting H1N1 and getting quite sick — or worse.
“This virus is still around,” Schuchat said, according to Web MD. “People are being hospitalized and are dying … The virus is still spreading and those not who have not been vaccinated still are vulnerable.”
But most Americans seem optimistic about the swine flu’s decreased prevalence in the US. According to a newly released Harvard poll, most people think the pandemic is over and do not plan to get themselves vaccinated if they have not done so already.
So what are we to do? I guess the answer is don’t allow strangers to sneeze on you at will, but take heart in knowing it seems the worst of the swine flu scare is likely behind us.
Photo illustration courtesy of mzacha via stock.xchang