How does the virus that causes novel H1N1 influenza spread?
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has determined that novel H1N1 influenza spreads from person to person, in the same way that seasonal flu spreads. Influenza viruses are thought to spread from person to person in respiratory droplets of coughs and sneezes. This can happen when droplets from a cough or sneeze of an infected person are propelled through the air and deposited on the mouth or nose of people nearby. Influenza viruses may also be spread when a person touches respiratory droplets on another person or an object and then touches their own mouth or nose (or someone else’s mouth or nose) before washing their hands. Health officials are currently studying how easily novel H1N1 influenza spreads between people.
