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H1N1: Worst is Yet to Come

Officials warn that stronger second wave of virus likely to arrive in autumn

By Jess Kilby, Newser User

Posted May 4, 2009 4:26 AM CDT

(Newser) – Britain's health minister has cautioned doctors to prepare for a “much stronger” version of the H1N1 virus to surface this autumn, the Telegraph reports. With 985 cases confirmed in 20 countries so far, the World Health Organization is also countering Mexico’s optimism that the virus is on the wane with a warning that it could rebound in an even nastier form, CNN reports.

"In 1918 the Spanish flu showed a surge in the spring, and then disappeared in the summer months, only to return in the autumn of 1918 with a vengeance," warned a WHO spokesman. "It eventually killed up to 50 million people."

[Images (2)]

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Hotel staffers wearing masks as a precaution against the swine flu flash V signs to their colleagues through the glass door at the lobby of Metropark Hotel today. (AP Photo)

A security guard wears a protective mask as a precaution against swine flu as he stands in the airport in Tijuana, Mexico, yesterday. (AP Photo/Guillermo Arias)

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Our evidence from all previous pandemics is you get two phases: a first wave which is often very mild and then you get a much more serious wave that comes along in the autumn and the winter.
- British Health Secretary Alan Johnson

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H1N1: Worst is Yet to Come