The CDC has quietly changed its standards for flu testing so that only the most seriously ill patients are tested to confirm H1N1 infection. Unlike "normal" flu viruses this one continues to spread in warm weather and there continues to be deaths. Once school starts it will spread much faster, the question is will it spread through the population without mutating into something really dangerous.
There is a big push to test a vaccine developed in Australia. You should notice that one is yet to be developed here even though we had it months before they did. Years of underfunding have degraded our public health service. The good news is that we have had a few months since the adults have retaken government to equip hospitals with emergency supplies.
An actual 1918 outbreak that would kill 10-20% of the population (mostly under 40) would snowball into a disaster requiring martial law. The problem is that now that this "super bug" flu is in circulation is that no one can predict how it will mutate. We could have a series of new flu viruses that would each require a new vaccine just as we do with "conventional" flu. This assumes that a workable vaccine is possible. The outbreak at a military base during the Ford Adm resulted in the production of a vaccine that killed more people than the flu did.
There is a big push to test a vaccine developed in Australia. You should notice that one is yet to be developed here even though we had it months before they did. Years of underfunding have degraded our public health service. The good news is that we have had a few months since the adults have retaken government to equip hospitals with emergency supplies.
An actual 1918 outbreak that would kill 10-20% of the population (mostly under 40) would snowball into a disaster requiring martial law. The problem is that now that this "super bug" flu is in circulation is that no one can predict how it will mutate. We could have a series of new flu viruses that would each require a new vaccine just as we do with "conventional" flu. This assumes that a workable vaccine is possible. The outbreak at a military base during the Ford Adm resulted in the production of a vaccine that killed more people than the flu did.