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Digital News Report – Although the swine flu pandemic was not as deadly as some public officials thought it could be, it is still not over and the virus may mutate before the season is over.
The H1N1, which first hit the United States in Texas and California, was not the disaster health workers planned for.
Similar to the Spanish flu which killed millions worldwide in 1918, the 2009 swine flu first reared its head late in the season. The virus came back around during the fall with public officials urging Americans to get vaccinated.
The U.S. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that “overall flu activity” is slightly decreasing. In a report released December 31st, the CDC said “Visits to doctors for influenza-like illness increased, although the proportion of tests for influenza that were positive continued to decline and the overall hospitalization rates for this season were unchanged from the previous week (December 20-26).”
The CDC said that deaths were higher that week compared to the previous week, but there were fewer deaths in Children.
By Jason Chang
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