The so-called swine flu is back. New numbers come out last week, but still early in the season, the virus has sent droves to the hospital and put an unlikely section of the population at risk.
Back in 2009, the H1N1 virus caused a pandemic, infecting nearly 60 million in the United States. This season, local reports of H1N1, along with other flu types, began to surge in early December 2013, according to the Kansas City, Missouri Health Department.
The Department’s Jeff Hershberger says it’s not just the elderly and children in danger.
“Basically those in the 25 to 49 year age range, as well as the pre-teen on up through 24," Hershberger explains. "Basically, the entire middle age range that normally think of themselves as kind of invulnerable are the ones probably being hit.”
The Health Department recommends thorough hand washing and flu shots to protect against H1N1. Flu shots typically take two weeks before they’re effective.
