PITTSBURGH -- The H1N1 flu has been labeled a pandemic and it has proven to be deadly.
However, health officials also know this strain of flu is actually milder than regular influenza.
What's of concern to many health experts, is the fact that it spreads more easily.
First identified in Mexico in March of this year, school districts have been preparing to try and stop the spread of the infection.
"It's just another virus that produces flu and has been given these particular initials, related to an outbreak in Mexico related to pigs. Hence the term swine flu," said forensic pathologist and former Allegheny County medical examiner Dr. Cyril Wecht.
This strain of flu is so contagious, Mexico City effectively shut down and many countries stopped travel to that area.
H1N1 was first spotted in the US in April, when two California Children were diagnosed.
Thousands of cases have been reported in Pennsylvania, so many that the health department has stopped counting. In fact, health officials have said that if you've had the flu since the summer, it was H1N1.
"This is spread by droplets. You may cough and get droplets on a desk and somebody touches it. So hand washing and covering the mouth and throat probably will reduce the risk at least 50 plus percent of the time," said Dr. Bruce Dixon of the Allegheny County Health Department.
The symptoms are the same as those usually associated with the flu - fever, cough, sore throat and a feeling achy.
People in school, from preschool to college, are most at risk, likely because they spend so much time in close proximity to one another.
Those born before 1957 seem to be immune to the H1N1 flu because a similar virus circulated in American back then.
While you can catch swine flu more easily than other flu strains, Channel 4 Action News' Michelle Wright reported doctors say H1N1 won't make you as sick as the regular flu virus. However there are times when you should seek immediate medical attention with the swine flu.
"If you are at home with the flu, if you start to get short of breath, if you start to get a cough that is more yellow and more productive than you see during flu, at that point those are warning signs. You need to see someone and get a chest x-ray. Tou need to get your sputum cultured and get on antibiotics very quickly," Dixon said.
Parents should also know what to look for if their children are sick.
"If your child is uncomfortable, is achy uncomfortable, has a headache, fever, has a cough but is still eating and drinking and wanting to watch TV and play, there may not really be a need for your child to come into the emergency dept to be seen," said Dr. Michael Green of Children's hospital.
But if your child stops drinking and going to the bathroom or has chest pain or difficulty breathing, you should your child to the doctor immediately.
Those with compromised immune systems or anyone with lung or heart problems should also be especially careful.
"You, the patient, must be aggressive. Or you the parents, with a doctor who either because of a busy schedule, lack of knowledge, concerns about, 'Gee, the hospital isn't going to like it if I admit another patient,' whatever their reasons may be, you the patient must be more aggressive," Wecht said.
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