The federal government is reintroducing a powerful weapon in the fight against the H1N1 flu virus: Elmo. The popular Sesame Street character will be featured in a series of public service advertisements meant to encourage better hygiene among young children, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday. In the ads, Elmo teams up with Gordon, another Sesame Street veteran, to stress the importance of basic healthy habits such as frequent hand washing, sneezing into the bend ...

The H1N1 flu virus could cause up to 90,000 U.S. deaths, mainly among children and young adults, if it resurges this fall as expected, according to a report released Monday by a presidential advisory panel. The H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu virus, could infect between 30 percent and 50 percent of the American population during the fall and winter and lead to as many as 1.8 million U.S. hospital admissions, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and ...

Costa Rican President Oscar Arias has been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus, commonly known as the swine flu, the government said in a televised statement on Tuesday. Arias fell ill on Sunday, complaining of a sore throat and temperature, Presidential Minister Rodrigo Arias said. A doctor's visit on Tuesday revealed that the president had the H1N1 virus, cases of which had been reported earlier in the Costa Rican capital of San Jose. The president's overall health was ...

The U.S. military wants to establish regional teams of military personnel to assist civilian authorities in the event of a significant outbreak of the H1N1 virus this fall, according to Defense Department officials.

Two Hajj pilgrims from Iran have contracted the H1N1 virus, according to reports from the country's official news agency. Iran's official Fars news agency Wednesday reported that a 57-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man who had recently returned from a pilgrimage tested positive for the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu. This brings Iran's tally to three cases. Every year about two million Muslims go on pilgrimage to Mecca -- the holiest place in Islam. As well ...

Health experts are warning parents against holding "swine flu parties" in the hope of infecting their children with the H1N1 virus. Talk of swine flu parties has emerged on Internet forums. The idea is that exposing a child to the H1N1 virus while it remains relatively mild will give the child immunity if the virus returns in a more virulent form later on. The idea is an extension of chicken pox and measles parties that were once a popular way ...

A nine-year-old girl has died in Britain from the H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu, as authorities reported a jump in the number of cases in the country. The girl is the third person in the UK to die from swine flu, doctors at a children's hospital in Birmingham, England said Monday. A spokeswoman for the hospital said in a statement: "We can sadly confirm that a child died at Birmingham Children's Hospital on Friday evening. "The ...

The World Health Organization announced Tuesday it is still considering increasing its pandemic alert level to phase 6 because of growing worldwide cases of the H1N1 virus, or swine flu. "Globally, we are at phase 5, but we are nearing phase 6," said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, WHO's Assistant Director General. "As this continues to spread internationally, some countries are moving from isolated to sustained community spread." Phase 6 is a declaration that many member countries have long feared ...

The son of a New York City assistant principal who died after being hospitalized with the H1N1 flu virus is a baseball hero. Jordan Wiener, 18, of Robert F. Kennedy High School pitched a no-hitter on Thursday, leading his high school team to a 10-0 victory the day after his father's funeral. He pitched the entire game wearing a cap with his father's initials -- M.W., for Mitchell Wiener -- on it. "He would want me do what I do ...

The number of confirmed H1N1 flu cases worldwide is nearing 10,000, the World Health Organization said Tuesday morning. Commonly known as swine flu, the outbreak has sickened 9,830 people and caused at least 79 deaths -- mostly in Mexico, the organization said. The actual number of people affected may be higher, as it takes time for national governments to confirm cases and report them to the global body. In the United States, at least 5,123 cases of swine flu have ...