U.S. braces for lengthy flu season

ATLANTA, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- This year's flu season could be long and unpredictable, with the H1N1 virus expected in U.S. schools and seasonal flu among the elderly, health officials said.

Besides the H1N1 virus, officials are watching for some potentially nasty seasonal strains, including one that is resistant to the antiviral drug known as Tamiflu, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

A variant of another flu strain virus known to attack the elderly isn't fully covered by this year's seasonal flu vaccine, healthcare professionals said.

"This season is going to be crazier than ever," William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University, told the Journal.

Government officials are urging people to get seasonal flu shots now. The H1N1 shot won't be available at least until mid-October, once clinical trials are completed.

H1N1, formerly called swine flu, accounts for 76 percent of flu viruses circulating globally, WHO said.

Officials at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta said they believe the H1N1 virus could surpass some of the seasonal viruses in the northern hemisphere this winter, the Journal said.

WHO said the H1N1 strain overwhelmed seasonal flu strains in the southern hemisphere's flu season.