Health officials prepare for H1N1 comeback

SAN FRANCISCO, May 10 (UPI) -- The H1N1 flu virus, now appearing to be in remission, may return this winter in a newer and more dangerous form, some U.S. medical experts say.

Health officials are deciding now how to protect people should the H1N1 virus make a reappearance during influenza season, which starts in late November -- even though some experts say it appears the current strain may never pose an especially deadly threat -- the San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday.

Despite the apparent weakening of the threat, extensive preparations are under way to figure out how to protect people should the swine flu bug come back in a stronger, mutated form and mix in with the usual crowd of milder viruses that typically circulate among humans each winter, experts told the newspaper.

The deaths of more than 150 people in Mexico originally led epidemiologists to believe the H1N1 was more lethal than it actually was -- many thousands of milder cases in Mexico were never reported, thus making H1N1 seem more deadly than seasonal flu, health officials told the Chronicle.

Because it is a new virus to humans, people have little immunity, especially if it returns in a more virulent form, the newspaper said.