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SALT LAKE CITY -- Three more deaths have been blamed on H1N1 virus in Utah in the past week. That's proof, medical experts say, that while the swine flu is on the way down, it's not out.
There have been two waves of swine flu so far: the first peaked in June; the second in October.
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SLVHD will not open H1N1 vaccine to general public
Doctors say symptoms for the H1N1 virus have been steadily declining in Salt Lake County -- so why then is the vaccine still being restricted to priority groups only?"Hospitalizations and all other surveillance indicators have been going down since," says Dr. Dagmar Vitek, medical director for the Salt Lake Valley Health Department.
She says that shouldn't be reason for a false sense of security. Eight people have died just in the second wave in Salt Lake County; 23 statewide.
"We do not know what's going to happen with pandemic strain, and we don't know what's going to happen when we introduce seasonal influenza into the mix during the winter months," Vitek says.
The Weber-Morgan and Davis County health departments opened vaccination clinics up to the general public. Currently, the Salt Lake County Health Department is still only vaccinating members of high-risk groups.
