Pandemonium about pandemic?

You probably heard that today the World Health Organization raised the level of pandemic alert to full pandemic. No pandemonium is needed.

What is important to remember is that this is a geographic designation, acknowledging the widespread illness resulting from the H1N1 virus. It does not mean that the virus is causing more severe illness.

When I look back on my post from May 22, what is most remarkable is that our information and messages have not changed. The good news about that is the virus is still stable, which makes efforts to create an effective vaccine possible.

So what should we do now?

In public health, we need to use this time to prepare for the fall in case the virus re-emerges. We don't know if it will; we don't know if it will be more severe; we don't know if we will have a vaccine. Regardless, there are many things we can do in the meantime. We have immunization and stockpile people thinking ahead; communicators can prepare information, too.

Tomorrow, look for a post on what individuals can do to prepare for the fall, in case we see the return of H1N1 in a more severe form.