Health officials gear up for flu vaccination season

 This time last year, health officials were scrambling to protect kids going back to school against what was feared to be an exceptionally deadly flu outbreak. And while that scare has passed, they don't want parents to lower their guard as another academic year approaches.

The H1N1 flu pandemic was far milder than anticipated and was officially declared over this week by the World Health Organization. 
While the United Nations agency declared the H1N1 pandemic over, it urged continued vigilance, as it disproportionately affected young people, and the message is still about vaccination.

We are now moving into the post-pandemic period. The new H1N1 virus has largely run its course,” said Margaret Chan, director-general of WHO. The announcement comes 14 months after H1N1 was declared a pandemic by the U.N. body.

According to the WHO, the virus had spread with "unprecedented speed," reaching 120 countries and territories in less than two months.

Chan says she expects the H1N1 virus "to take on the behavior of a seasonal influenza virus and continue to circulate for some years to come."

Officials point to a new recommendation from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that everyone 6 months and older be immunized against seasonal flu rather than just vulnerable groups.



Although the world is entering a "post-pandemic period," this does not mean that the H1N1 virus has gone away, Chan said. It just means the H1N1 virus will behave more like a seasonal flu virus and continue to circulate for years to come.



Officials point to a new recommendation from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that everyone 6 months and older be immunized against seasonal flu rather than just vulnerable groups.






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