A(H1N1) ‘Swine Flu’ 2009/2010: Where We've Been, What We Now Know, Where We May Be Heading

Wilde, James A. MD, FAAP
Sharieff, Ghazala Q. MD, FACEP, FAAEM, FAAP

¹Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta.
²Division Director/Clinical Professor, Rady Children's Hospital Emergency Care Center and the University of California, San Diego; Director of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, California Emergency Physicians.

Pediatric Emergency Medicine Reports 15(3):p 25-35, March 2010.

In the past nine months, the world has witnessed the outbreak of not one but two waves of pandemic influenza due to a new virus of swine origin. World public health authorities moved quickly to contain what appeared initially to be the severe pandemic that had been anticipated for so long.

Wave two has now subsided, giving public health authorities and health care providers alike the opportunity to assess the situation. The pandemic was not a hoax, as some have suggested, but it has been much lower in intensity than many expected. How did this happen? What have we learned about novel A(H1N1)? What is the likelihood that it will be back? This article considers these and other questions.

— The Editor