A Dire Prediction for Swine Flu H1N1 Virus
July 21, 2009 by national
Filed under Homeland Security News
Public health officials brace for another, nastier wave of the H1N1 virus. Alarming new numbers outline the worst case scenario when H1N1 returns this fall. The World Health Organization predicts 2-billion people may become infected globally. That’s a third of the worlds total population. Here in the United States, 90-million people could become ill, with 10% ending up in the hospital.
Again, it’s a worst case scenario, but local health officials take these numbers seriously. They’re gearing up for what could be the largest vaccination campaign in decades. It’s a tiny bug expected to make a very big return. Health experts are already planning a major attack against the H1N1 virus. They’re worried it may mutate and pack a deadlier punch.
Dr. Dean Sienko, Ingham County Health Department: “We haven’t had something like this in quite a while, and the best way to be successful is to begin planning early.”
To beat the bug, public health officials are gearing up for a mass immunization campaign, the likes of which we haven’t seen since the polio outbreak in the 1950s. It’s an effort to protect those at highest risk- young children and teens.
Dr. Dean Sienko: “This is a major undertaking and that’s why planning now is critical.”
via A Dire Prediction for H1N1 Virus – WLNS TV 6 Lansing Jackson Michigan News and Weather – WLNS.COM |.
