Obama, "Test of WILL of the American People" is THAT what the H1N1 Flu pandemic was all about??

[PHILIP SCHNEIDER]

By BETSY MCKAY

This has been a flu season like few others.

Normally at this time of year, influenza is rampant in the U.S., prompting hundreds of thousands of people to stay home in the dead of winter with fever, aches and pains.

Now, after raging through college campuses and communities last summer and fall, cases of the new H1N1 swine flu virus have dwindled to a trickle, and run-of-the-mill seasonal flu has barely made an
appearance. Not one state reported widespread flu illness to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the week ended Feb. 20,
the latest data available. The percentage of all doctors' visits by
patients with influenza-like symptoms has dropped from a high of 7.8%
in late October—the largest peak since the agency began surveillance in
1997—to 1.8% in late February, well below the norm for flu season.

Doctors and flu experts say the lull is unusual. "This is typically the peak of flu," said James Turner, executive director of the University of Virginia's department of student health. He said the
Charlottesville, Va., student health center usually sees as many as 130
students a week complaining of flu symptoms this time of year.
Recently, no more than three to five students a week have been coming
in with fever, cough or other signs of flu, he said.

It is not clear why there is so little flu, particularly swine flu, going around, experts say. "Surely there's a sufficient number of people who haven't been infected or vaccinated," said Michael
Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and
Policy at the University of Minnesota.