Ever since a 23 month-old child in Brownsville, TX became the first U.S. confirmed death from the Swine Flu outbreak that first hit the United States late last year, there have been concerns about the country’s preparedness for the disease.

Now that the fall flu season is approaching those concerns are deepening. After these long months, a Swine Flu vaccine is just now being manufactured in any quantity and the regular flu vaccine is ineffective against the highly virulent disease.

The primary concern over the H1N1 virus is that it does not act like the normal flu. This disease attacks younger people who are not used to having to deal with preparing for the flu. The traditional, seasonal virus is perhaps even more deadly than the H1N1 virus, but those affected are better prepared to handle the disease and drug manufacturers have plenty of vaccine on hand.

One of the problems with the H1N1 virus is that is slow growing, which has hampered scientists’ ability to create an appropriate vaccine. Compounding that situation is the fact that the Swine Flu, because it targets younger people, can and will spread rapidly where young people assemble, such as in schools with high concentrations of youths in a very social setting.

The seasonal flu virus, spreads slower because the older adult population at risk neither congregate in near the numbers as school-aged children nor nearly as often as the five-day grind of life in school.

Therefore, authorities have somewhat of a dilemma on how best to prepare for what is predicted a heavy flu season that includes both the seasonal and H1N1 strains of the disease, which some project will hit at about the same time.

St. Mary’s County Public Schools Superintendent, Dr. Michael J. Martirano addressed the situation in a letter to parents posted on the SMCPS Web site. In that letter, Martirano stated that the schools are cleaned and disinfected thoroughly on a regular basis.

“We will continue to provide 60 percent alcohol based hand sanitizers to each school and administrative office for visitors, staff, and students to clean their hands if they do not have access to soap and water. Staff and visitors should wash their hands upon arrival to the school building,” said Martirano in the letter to parents.

As a precaution, those who do come down with either strainof flu should follow these reasonable precautions to avoid spreading the disease further:

  • Wash hands often, especially after coughing, sneezing, and wiping or blowing the nose.
  • Cover mouths when coughing or sneezing.
  • Use paper tissues when wiping or blowing noses; throw tissues away after each use.
  • Stay away from crowded living and sleeping spaces, if possible, and most important
  • Stay home and avoid contact with other people to protect them from catching the illness. 


The CDC has a week-by week synopsis set up to track both the H1N1 and seasonal flu. Visit the Web site: http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1FLU  and http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/ to learn more about, and to track the diseases’ progress as the flu seasons draws near.