2009 H1N1 Flu Information

State health officials urge all persons with mild flu-like illness to stay home.

Listen to a message from Colorado Governor, Bill Ritter, on the H1N1 flu and what you can do.

Children and adolescents with fever should not go to day care or school. Adults with fever should not go to work until their fever has gone away for 24 hours (without use of fever reducing medicine). Individuals with severe illness, such as difficulty breathing, should contact their health care provider. Schools, businesses and other organizations are urged to plan for the flu. 

To decrease chances of getting, or spreading the flu, the department recommends taking these steps to avoid the flu. 

Again, this is a rapidly evolving situation and the state health department is asking people to be alert for changes in our guidance, available from the Colorado Department of Public Health website.....

What is 2009 H1N1 (swine flu)?

2009 H1N1 (referred to as “swine flu” early on) is a new influenza virus causing illness in people. This new virus was first detected in people in the United States in April 2009. This virus is spreading from person-to-person worldwide, probably in much the same way that regular seasonal influenza viruses spread. On June 11, 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) signaled that a pandemic of 2009 H1N1 flu was underway.

Visit flu.gov, the Center for Disease Controls online resource for H1N1 Flu.

Why is 2009 H1N1 virus sometimes called "swine flu"? This virus was originally referred to as "swine flu" because laboratory testing showed that many of the genes in this new virus were very similar to influenza viruses that normally occur in pigs (swine) in North America.

But further study has shown that this new virus is very different from what normally circulates in North American pigs. It has two genes from flu viruses that normally circulate in pigs in Europe and Asia and bird (avian) genes and human genes. Scientists call this a "quadruple reassortant virus".

Get an email when the flu information on the CDPHE's site changes.....request it here