Story Created: Aug 25, 2009 at 4:52 PM MDT
Story Updated: Aug 25, 2009 at 5:23 PM MDT
Beth Weiman, a lead microbiologist, tests a suspected swine flu sample at the Washington State Public Health Laboratories in Shoreline, Wash.
The 68-page report from the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology paints a "plausible scenario" in which 60 million to 120 million people in the U.S. will be sickened by the virus and hospital emergency rooms overwhelmed.
Seasonal flu claims as many as 36,000 lives a year in the United States and on a hot summer's day in Boise, the dark forecast about swine flu is hard to imagine.
"I think it's scary," said Lynn Booras in downtown Boise. "I think statistics show we're in trouble."
Most at risk from H1-N1, are people with underlying health conditions, pregnant women, infants and children.
"I plan to find out more about it," said Mike Rice, the father of two toddlers. "I'm going to investigate it."
And in a switch from seasonal flu, which targets older people, young adults up to age 24 are vulnerable to swine flu.
"I never thought about it before," said Riley Thomas, 24, of Boise. "I've never gotten a flu vaccine before, it wouldn't be on the top of my priority list to do. But now, you hear those numbers, it makes you think about it."
A vaccine is being developed and the White House is pushing to have a limited amount ready by mid-September rather than mid-October when swine flu is expected to peak.
The potential "mismatch in timing" could significantly diminish the usefulness of the H1N1 vaccine, the report says.
Local health officials say they take the projected numbers seriously and are working with school districts to work out immunization details.
"We're moving quickly," said Dave Fotsch with Central District Health Department. "Our goal is to get the vaccine out within 72 hours of receiving it."
A spokesman for the Idaho Health and Welfare Department says the speed with which a new vaccine is being created is unprecedented.
What could also be unprecedented this season is the number of people who get sick from swine flu.
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