The H1N1 flu pandemic is now official by World Health Organization standards, but the declaration today doesn’t alter much practically speaking, U.S. health officials say. The virus hasn’t changed since the outbreak was detected and its severity — characterized as moderate — remains the same. The virus has simply spread more broadly across the world now, triggering the WHO’s definition of a Phase 6 global pandemic, said Thomas Frieden , the new head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at a news conference. The U.S. will continue its “aggressive” response to the flu, according to Frieden. “For all intents and purposes, the U.S. has been in pandemic mode for some time now,” said Frieden. Global health officials, meanwhile, today said that the heightened alert level should be a signal to countries to step up their efforts if they aren’t yet prepared. Frieden’s message was echoed by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who said in a statement that today’s WHO declaration wouldn’t change what the U.S. was already doing. Part of that effort includes a nearly $1 billion

investment in vaccine development and manufacturing. While officials hope that an effective one will be ready by the fall, there’s no guarantee that it will be or that the government will decide that vaccination is necessary, said Anne Schuchat, head of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease, at the CDC press conference. The public should continue to cover up when coughing or sneezing, stay at home when feeling ill and “be prepared for greater amounts of illness,” said Schuchat. Those with a fever of 104 degrees or higher, with a cough or sore throat and particularly those with an underlying health condition, should see a doctor immediately, said Frieden. Twenty-seven people in the U.S. have died of the H1N1 flu, but that figure is likely to be updated soon, said Schuchat. So far, the number is lower than what officials see during the normal flu season, Martin Blaser, an infectious-disease expert at New York University’s Langone Medical Center told Forbes . “They’re just confirming what we already know,” said Blaser.

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What a Pandemic Means in U.S.: Keep Doing What We’re Doing