H1N1 Puts Flu at Seasonal High

Health Director Bill Paul says Nashville is seeing flu infections like it was flu season, but it’s not.

Public health officials are waiting to see if a wave of H1N1 flu infections in Nashville has peaked. The number of cases has spiked as children are back in school. The Metro Health Department outlined its response Thursday.

Infection rates are roughly the same as during last year’s seasonal flu, says Dr. Bill Paul, director of the Metro Health Department.

“Right now in Nashville it is like flu season in terms of the intensity of flu activity and the number of people being sick, but it’s September.”

That’s about two months earlier than normal. Health officials expected the start of school would cause infection rates to increase. Paul says now they’re waiting to see if the spike levels off.

An H1N1 vaccine is expected to arrive in early October. At that point, the Health Department plans is to set up four community clinics to immunize vulnerable adults and send health workers into schools to vaccinate children.