H1N1 activity appears to have leveled off. But public health officials are still urging Americans to get vaccinated against this unpredictable and potentially dangerous virus.
Patients reporting flu-like symptoms account for 1.9 percent of doctor’s office visits, according to the latest monitoring by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That figure is below the national baseline of 2.3 percent (a figure based on the average number of flu-related doctor’s office visits throughout the past three years).
Nevertheless, H1N1 continues to cause hospitalizations and deaths in a small number of those infected. So, the CDC recommends that Americans take advantage of the recent abundance of vaccine.
According to a national phone survey, 23.4 percent of Americans have received the H1N1 vaccine — with the highest vaccination rates among children. The CDC estimates that 37 percent of Americans under the age of 18 have been vaccinated.
For more on the lessons learned from the H1N1 flu pandemic, please read my related blog.