The above comments on swine flu at the University of Alabama begin to describe the extent of pandemic H1N1 (swine flu) at schools throughout the United States, with similar issues throughout the northern hemisphere. The students and parents are experiencing “sticker shock” when they realize that swine flu is widespread and spreading rapidly (see map), leading to 10-20% absenteeism, even though agency reports and media stories have largely disappeared over the summer. Although there were reports of outbreaks at summer camps, most assumed these were isolated incidents. The CDC had ceased reporting cases in daily or weekly updates. Instead on August 5 they switched to national aggregate numbers for hospitalized and fatal cases. State agencies followed suit. Many even stopped reporting fatal cases, and instead linked to aggregated CDC numberss. This information dearth led to a dramatic reduction in media coverage, leading to the widespread belief that swine flu had largely “disappeared”.
