H1N1: Pandemic was emotional as well as physical
By Madison Park, CNN
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Interest in H1N1 has waned over last months as demand for vaccine has faded
- WHO committee meets Tuesday to assess H1N1 situation and consider steps to downgrade
- Public had emotional response to H1N1, because it fit outbreak narrative, doctor says
(CNN) — Last spring, U.S. doctors’ offices were barraged with phone calls and worried patients packed into hospitals. Schools closed. Face masks and Tamiflu were suddenly in short supply. The country verged on an H1N1 panic.
The new flu virus, first widely reported in Mexico, was infecting the young and healthy, rather than those usually most at risk, the elderly and infirm. Beginning in April 2009, H1N1 flu fanned across the globe. The World Health Organization declared it a global pandemic in June.
Hand sanitizer was suddenly seen everywhere, and, heeding the often-repeated advice of top U.S. health officials, many people began coughing into their shoulders or elbows rather than covering their mouths with their hands.
