Statements by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano on WHO Pandemic Declaration

Published June 11, 2009 at 2:15 p.m.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano issued the following statement in response to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) decision to raise the pandemic threat level on the novel H1N1 virus ...

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Napolitano: H1N1 seems no worse than usual flu

Tagged with:

swine flu

Published May 5, 2009 at 2:10 a.m.
204399-napolitano--h1n1-seems-no-worse-than-usual-flu

The swine flu virus that has sparked fear and precautions worldwide appears to be no more dangerous than the regular flu virus that makes its rounds each year, U.S. officials said Monday. "The severity of the flu -- how sick you get -- is not stronger than regular seasonal flu," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said as the worldwide number of confirmed cases of 2009 H1N1 flu topped 1,085 ...

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   This site was created to help deal with the H1N1 influenza flu pandemic. Flu preparation is important! You can have an immunization with the flu vaccine, you can have the flu shot; flu shots are good before you are showing flu symptoms, although the current trivalent influenza vaccine is unlikely to provide protection against the new 2009 H1N1 strain, vaccines against the new strain are being developed and could be ready as early as June 2009.

   According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in humans the symptoms of H1N1 swine flu are similar to those of influenza and of influenza-like illness in general. Symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. The 2009 outbreak has shown an increased percentage of patients reporting diarrhea and vomiting.

   Recommendations to prevent the spread of the virus among humans include using standard infection control against influenza. This includes frequent washing of hands with soap and water or with alcohol-based hand sanitizers, especially after being out in public.