TUESDAY, Sept. 22 (HealthDay News) — With all the warnings and preparations, dire predictions and hastily ordered vaccines, could the growing worry about H1N1 swine flu prove more disruptive than the actual outbreak?
That notion is weighing on the minds of more than a few infectious-disease experts as the fall and winter flu season looms.
Despite our best efforts, all diseases have not been eradicated, and periodically, one gets out of control, or so it appears. The recent outbreak of H1N1 flu, popularly called the “swine flu,” at first appeared to have the potential to reach epidemic proportions, though the persistent throwing around of the term “pandemic” was undoubtedly excessive. Nevertheless, as with all dangerous communicable diseases, maximum caution to prevent the spread of this flu was certainly in order.