Some two-thirds of Americans may already be immune to H1N1 swine flu, making an explosive new wave unlikely.
High vaccination rates this flu season, especially among children and young adults, might even drive the pandemic bug to extinction, speculate top researchers at the National Institutes of Health.
“Clearly, a large percentage of the U.S. population must already be immune to pandemic H1N1, reducing opportunities for explosive pandemic spread in the future,” write David M. Morens, MD; Jeffery K. Taubenberger, MD, PhD; and Anthony S. Fauci, MD.
“History suggests that pandemic H1N1 likely faces extinction unless it mutates,” they add.
0