Juror Flirting With John Edwards
Obama's Pot-Smoking Detailed
"It's inevitable that there's H1N1 fatigue," Dr. Robert Daum, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Chicago Medical Center, told AOL News. "Health officials, the media and the public are all stuck between a rock and a hard place on this one."
Time Sloan, AFP / Getty Images
Patients get the H1N1 vaccine in October. With so many Americans vaccinated against the virus, a new outbreak may be unlikely.
No doubt, the H1N1 virus was a legitimate health threat. The WHO estimates that 16,000 people have died from the flu strain, which targeted children and teens rather than the elderly. The virus was also prevalent during spring and summer months, whereas flues usually peak in the winter.
But despite its unconventional characteristics, H1N1 remained a mild pandemic. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that flu-related hospitalization and death rates are actually unseasonably low this year. And with an estimated 140 million Americans either vaccinated or already recovered after contracting the strain, a subsequent wave of illness is unlikely.
Even the Vancouver Olympics, which experts warned could have triggered a resurgence, remains H1N1-free. Doctors working with the planning committee called the dearth of illness "almost eerie," but credited vaccinations and vigilance with keeping the flu at bay.
"Certainly in preparing for enhanced surveillance for the Olympics ... the disease that we were most concerned to have good surveillance in place for was influenza," Dr. Danuta Skowronski, a British Columbia flu expert, told the Winnipeg Free Press. "We've got the surveillance in place to detect it, if it's there."
In spring of 2009, public panic was quickly stoked after the H1N1 virus first caught the attention of global health organizations. The WHO announced the flu had attained "pandemic levels" and placed the public on maximum alert. A media frenzy ensued, and drugmakers announced plans for the development of emergency vaccines.
According to media outlets, H1N1 became the illness "that would stun the world," and even medical experts started to speculate that mass fatalities could ensue. The U.S government spent $2 billion on 250 million doses of vaccines, then dealt with public panic when manufacturers produced fewer doses than anticipated.
At the time, David P. Fidler, an Indiana University professor of health law, even likened the potential aftermath of the government's lagging vaccine production to public outcry following Hurricane Katrina.
"Are we going to see this sort of nationwide impact that's also going to be seared in the nation's mind in the way Katrina was?" he told The Washington Post. "One of the possibilities is that the administration and state governments will lose their credibility, because the response strategies and the promises made about the vaccine, at least in the public's eye, the promises will look again like empty promises."
Looking back, Daum says that vaccines were distributed relatively quickly, and also cautions that public health officials didn't know how, when or where the H1N1 virus would spread. "They're the leaders in this scenario, and they make decisions with careful thought and consideration," he said. "Initially, there was reason for high levels of alert and preparedness."
"Can you imagine if they hadn't responded so aggressively? We could very well be up in arms right now, facing enormous health consequences."
Ironically, then, relentless vigilance and public health alarm bells may have been what prevented H1N1 from running rampant. But with the virus turning out to be less of a global killer than anticipated, Daum hopes the public will stay diligent in listening up when potential pandemics strike.
"I can guarantee that there will be another pandemic," he said. "This is a smart virus -- we have to live with that and respect that."
Realistically, though? Daum admits: "We can only mobilize so often before the public starts to go 'ho-hum."
