Health|Assessment and Thanks as Flu Wave Ebbs in U.S.
Assessment and Thanks as Flu Wave Ebbs in U.S.
With that, Ms. Sebelius, the health and human services secretary, bent her elbow across her face and sent a delicate imitation of a virus-loaded “kerchoo!” into the sleeve of her quilted Christmas-red jacket.
The nine federal officials leading the fight against the H1N1 flu gathered for a news conference here on Thursday to review the progress made since the virus was spotted in late April and to thank the hundreds of thousands of Americans — including doctors, vaccine plant workers and schoolteachers — who had labored in the effort.
Ms. Sebelius said it was time to “focus on the next phase of H1N1,” and she pressed everyone to get vaccinated.
About 100 million doses of swine flu vaccine are now available, which is close to the amount of seasonal flu vaccine used in a typical year. Some cities are reporting surpluses and releasing them to doctors’ offices and to pharmacy and supermarket clinics, telling them to vaccinate everyone — not just students and pregnant women, who have until now been the focus of vaccination drives.
Many Americans are acting as if the danger is over, but Dr. Frieden noted that swine flu had already killed five times as many children and young adults as seasonal flu does. Of the estimated 10,000 deaths as of Nov. 14, about 1,100 have been among children under 18.
How much seasonal flu will now emerge remains to be seen, Dr. Frieden said. For unknown reasons, new viruses tend to crowd out old ones. Australia and New Zealand had little seasonal flu during their July-August winter; in the United States, fewer samples of the three strains of seasonal flu have been found than is typical for mid-December.
Behind her, Secretary Sebelius coughed — correctly — into her sleeve.