Where did the flu go this winter?

I think that the H1N1 scare got everyone into flu prevention mode in a really big way this year. The media really blew H1N1 out of proportion when in reality I think it killed fewer people in Canada than our normal flu viruses. The vaccine was pushed into production and administration rapidly and priority groups were vaccinated first. Then there is the theory that if you are exposed to a virus such as H1N1, your body is building up its immune response so as to prevent infection and this could help ward off other potential viruses from infection as well. So even though we were fighting H1N1, we may have beat the other viruses for this season as well.

I agree; the media did a really good job with making H1N1 sound scarier than it really was. There's also been an excellent effort put forth with increasing public awareness of good general hygiene, like how to properly wash your hands, sneezing/coughing into your arm rather than into your hand, etc. I've also never seen more people carry around hand sanitizer.

I think its because a greater number of people got infected by swine flu all over the world. And these news were advertised constantly all over the place. It really did scared a lot of people and especially the priority groups were taken seriously and received vaccines. Also, the protection from this vaccine must have some sort of higher immunity towards the regular flu. This could be the reason why we don't see that many cases this year. Overall I think I agree with you guys that media did had a great impact on people regarding increasing public awareness.

I completely agree.

I have a feeling that over-hyping the H1N1 scare last year actually had a negative effect. According to the news, the number of people that got their flu shot this season was way less than the number of people last year.

^Here's an article showing where I read it: http://www.suite101.com/content/seasonal-flu-vaccinations-down-in-canada-doctors-urge-flu-shots-a328246

Here in Alabama, the flu is bad. A lot of people are missing work and school due to the flu.