U.S. health officials are expressing cautious optimism the viruscausing swine flu A-H1N1 may not be as virulent as initially feared,but they say aggressive steps to combat the infectious disease arestill warranted.
Days after Mexico suspended public activities to reduce the spread ofswine flu, the country is reporting a leveling off in the rate of newinfections. In the United States, the number of confirmed influenzacases continues to rise, but most flu sufferers report relatively mildsymptoms, and only one death has been recorded.
This is welcomenews for U.S. health officials, who initially had to consider thepossibility that the new flu strain's impact could mirror thedevastation of the 1918 influenza pandemic that led to tens of millionsof deaths worldwide.
The acting director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Richard Besser, spoke on ABC's "" program.
"Whatwe have found is that we are not seeing the factors that wereassociated with the 1918 pandemic. We are not seeing the factors thatwere associated with other H1N1 viruses," Besser said.
But, he adds, "I do not think it is time to let our guard down. I think we have to continue in an uncertain situation to be aggressive."
U.S.officials worry that, even if the virus' spread is eventuallycontained, it could re-emerge months from now during the northernhemisphere's winter flu season, when more than 30,000 Americansdie each year from common influenza.
The Obama administrationsays it is laying the groundwork to develop a vaccine against swineflu, although no decision has been made on large-scale production ofsuch a vaccine. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebeliusalso appeared on "".
"Wecan accelerate the seasonal flu vaccine, which we are doing right nowto be prepared for what we know will hit this fall and winter. At thesame time, we are in the stages of growing the [swine flu] virus,testing it, and we can be ready to do both [vaccines] simultaneously," Sebelius said.
Inthe meantime, the Obama administration is urging common-sense steps toprevent the spread of swine flu, including frequent hand-washing andasking flu sufferers to stay at home.
Some critics have accusedthe administration of overstating the dangers of swine flu andunnecessarily alarming the public. Homeland Security Secretary JanetNapolitano dismisses the charge.
"Wehad a new strain of flu. We did not really know that its lethality wasgoing to be. We did not know how quickly it was going to move. Onceyou get behind [the spread of] flu, you cannot catch up. You have toget ahead of it," said Napolitano.
In an appearance on"," Napolitano again defended the administration'sdecision against closing the U.S. border with Mexico, saying it wouldincur massive economic costs with no meaningful health benefits, sinceswine flu is already spreading in the United States.