TELLURIDE – The swine flu that swept Mexico and New York City earlier this year has come to southwestern Colorado, with San Miguel and Montrose counties each reporting one confirmed case of swine flu (and none in Ouray County).

Last week, The Denver Post reported Colorado's first swine flu death, of an El Paso County resident in her 40s.

Nonetheless, of the over 43,000 presumed cases of swine flu in the United States to date this year, fewer than 200 were reported in Colorado, making the state one of the least affected by H1N1 (Hawaii, Massachusetts and Utah, for example, are some of the hardest hit, with nearly seven times that number of cases).

But that doesn't mean Colorado health officials are not taking the state's cases seriously. In Ouray, Montrose and San Miguel counties, health officers report they are readying themselves in case swine flu does become a significant problem this winter.

In Ouray County, Public Health Director Cheryl Roberts reports the county has been in a “formal exercise plan” since April, planning vaccination clinics, preparing educational material and increasing the number of vaccines they will receive for the seasonal flu.

It is a similar story in San Miguel and Montrose, where county officials have been meeting regularly about the problem, and helping schools gear up to monitor any children with flu-like symptoms.

All three counties – as well as Gunnison, Delta and Hinsdale – have plans in place in the case of a flu pandemic. Their “incident command systems” include county officials and health-care providers developing protocol for everything from how to address a homeless person who has contracted the flu to the planning for the unlikely possibility of community containment, or quarantine.

The H1N1 strain differs significantly from regular seasonal influenza viruses in terms of the age groups of predominantly targeted populations. Whereas citizens age 50 and over comprise 59 percent of all seasonal flu patients, in general, with the H1N1 virus, those statistics change. So far, just 13 percent of the H1N1 swine flu cases have come from the 50-plus age group, and the most vulnerable population instead is significantly younger, with 31 percent of swine flu cases tracking in the 18-to 49-year old range, children less than 4 years old coming in second, at 22 percent and children ages 5-9 and 10-17 years old combining to comprise 34 percent of all swine flu cases.

These statistics rang true for many youth summer camps this year, including the Summer Enrichment Program at the University of North Colorado, which was forced to shut down after five students became sick.

Here in Telluride, the Telluride Academy sent home one student with flu-like symptoms, although, because the camper was not hospitalized, it was not confirmed as a case of H1N1 swine flu.

Nationwide, more than 80 summer camps in 40 states reported outbreaks of swine flu.

Flu-like symptoms in the summertime are certainly no ordinary thing, a clear sign that H1N1 is a somewhat-unknown entity. Luckily, this strain of swine flu has, thus far, been relatively mild, all things considered.

Fewer than 350 people have died from this strain of swine flu to date in the U.S., comparing favorably to the roughly 36,000 Americans who die from seasonal winter flu every winter. And doctors have been prescribing the same thing to summer flu sufferers as they do for seasonal flu patients: If you have a fever, stay home until it has subsided for at least 24 hours.

The danger, then, is this: The addition of this new H1N1 strain – to which Americans have not yet developed immunities – to the flu season could greatly increase the number of cases; furthermore, while H1N1 is a type of influenza A, it cannot be treated with the same vaccine.

Another worry is that the swine flu may evolve to affect victims more severely this winter, although San Miguel County Director of Nursing June Nepsky says that while the Centers for Disease Control reports to health centers if a strain starts becoming more dangerous, at this point in time, the H1N1 strain is not gaining that kind of momentum.

And so, of its severity, she says: “It's really to be determined.”

Health care providers are encouraging respiratory precautions, nonetheless, including coughing into a tissue or sleeve and frequent hand-washing.

And Montrose, Ouray and San Miguel counties are all set to receive the standard flu vaccine sometime this fall (and the vaccine for H1N1, as well, which is not yet developed).

Montrose Health Educator Karen Connor says that, given the so-far mild characteristics of the flu, and the county's preparation, she is not panicking.

Roberts adds that, when it comes to pandemics, “it's good to be living in the central part of the Rockies.” She references the case of West Nile Virus; though it was strong in Europe and on the East Coast of the U.S., by the time it reached Colorado, abatement programs were in place and many of the birds which carried the sickness had been killed off.

But history shows that the mountains won't necessarily protect the area’s residents. The 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, for example, killed 10 percent of the population of Silverton, Colo.

But for now, San Miguel County Health Officer David Homer, M.D., says: “I’m not worried” that H1N1 will become more lethal. He goes on to say, however, that the sheer number of those contracting it might be a problem, and that businesses need to decide how they will handle absenteeism with regards to the flu – for example, how many sick employees will cause a closure.

The county’s Pandemic Flu Task Force – which includes Homer and Nepsky as well as other county and area health officials – meets Monday to discuss concrete percentages for the school and other agencies.

For now, however, health officials will continue to inform the public and encourage preventative health.

“It takes more consideration by individuals to keep themselves healthy,” Roberts says.

For more information, Coloradoans can go to their county websites or call CO HELP, a health information hotline, at 877/462-2911.