Hillarysworld

Swine Flu: The Next Wave

What You Need to Know as the Virus Threatens to Spread With the Start of the School Year

By BETSY MCKAY

With about 55 million U.S. children heading back to school in the next few weeks, concerns are growing that the H1N1 swine flu will spread even further than it already has. Identified by scientists four months ago, the virus has already turned up in nearly every corner of the world, from Argentina to Iran. It defied public-health officials' predictions of a lull in the warm summer months, proliferating in military units and children's summer camps.

View Full Image

Getty Images

A volunteer receives a shot during trials of an H1N1 swine-flu vaccine last week at the University of Iowa Health Center, one of eight trial sites across the U.S.

More than two million people are believed to have contracted the new flu in the U.S.; 7,511 had been hospitalized and 477 had died as of Aug. 13, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. World-wide, 177,457 people have been confirmed with the disease, and 1,462 deaths had been reported as of Aug. 12, according to the World Health Organization.

A vaccine against the new flu is under development, but it is unlikely to be widely available before the flu season gets under way. That could leave many people scrambling to protect themselves and their children.

Here is what you need to know:

How dangerous is the H1N1 swine flu?