KRTV - Great Falls News - Montana's News Station | H1N1 appears to be waning in Flathead, but expected to rise again

H1N1 appears to be waning in Flathead, but expected to rise again Play Video

- H1N1 appears to be waning in Flathead, but expected to rise again
- H1N1 appears to be waning in Flathead, but expected to rise again

Posted: Dec 3, 2009 6:44 AM
Updated: Dec 3, 2009 6:21 PM

The Flathead Health Department tells us that their past few vaccination clinics haven't been very busy, and things seem to be slowing down with the H1N1 chaos, but they say now that we are in the height of the holiday travel season- they expect cases to go up once again.

H1N1 cases are still being confirmed across Flathead County, and schools are still reporting quite a few flu absences, but the last few weeks have seen a slight decrease.

Flathead Health Department Community Health Director Jody White says less demand for vaccine has caused them to cut back on bigger clinics and they are instead encouraging people to come into the community health center if they want to be vaccinated.

But, White notes that the dip in illness may just be the calm before the storm. "Theoretically because of travel we could see an increase. Also, oftentimes after breaks we tend to see an increase in just general illness as well as the different types of influenza. And again in Montana, our usual influenza season peak is in January and February."

The state says that so far there have been just two seasonal flu cases in Montana, and 600 confirmed cases of the H1N1 flu. But they tell us that is just the tip of the iceberg and estimate about 20,000 to 50,000 Montanans have had the H1N1 flu.

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