The A/H1N1 Flu Hits Southern U.S. Very Hard

September 30, 2009 (LPAC)—The A/H1N1 influenza is spreading across the United States, hitting the southern states particularly hard.

Fox News reports that schools across Texas and Oklahoma are closing, and every southern state between Virginia and California is reporting widespread flu activity. Illness among staff and students has closed all schools until Oct. 1 in the Huntsville, Texas Independent School District.

Flu cases soared in Texas as soon as schools opened at the end of August. According to Dr. David Lakey, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, only small amounts of new vaccine will be arriving by the first week of October. "It will be coming in, drip, drip, drip, before we have a substantial amount," he said.

"Pandemics occur in waves. It looks like we're in wave No. 2. Likely there will be wave No. 3, maybe 4," he said. That's why we knew as soon as school occurred, this thing would expand. Kids take those viruses to their parents and grandparents and infect them."

Nationally, H1N1 is widespread in more than half the country. An estimated 21,000 college students are sick. Dr. Amy Ray, an infectious disease and public health specialist with University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, reported that 99% of what's circulating "right now is H1N1. That's not to say it won't change. We're watching... It's unusual to see influenza circulate during the summer months. Transmission is increasing."