President Obama has declared H1N1 influenza a national emergency in the USA. He has given doctors and medical facilities more resources to deal with the pandemic. The autumn weather has increased the number of flu cases reported. Scientists have warned all year that the cooler weather could see a sharp rise in H1N1. Medical centers and hospitals are prepared for a much busier than usual flu season. Reports are that flu-like illnesses are already much higher than the usual seasonal peak. Since August the 30th, 8,200 people have contracted H1N1 in the United States and 411 people have died. This brings the total number of hospitalizations in the US this year to 20,000, with over 1,000 deaths.

The H1N1 pandemic continues to spread across the world. It has not reached the levels people feared back in April when it first broke out. Then, experts predicted it could be one of the largest outbreaks in centuries. Fears increased when schools started closing and people started dying. However, the predicted hundreds of thousands of deaths did not happen. Even though, there has been a huge effort by laboratories to find a vaccine for H1N1. Governments around the world have created awareness campaigns on how to prevent the spread of the disease and have stocked up on millions of doses of H1N1 vaccines. Some countries have started an immunization programme. The WHO warns we still need to be careful.