The H1N1 virus may have skipped town for the moment, but soon it will be the seasonal flu's turn to infect people.

With this in mind, Dr. William Mercer, Ohio County health officer, is reminding folks to be vigilant against catching the disease. He recommends everyone receive a seasonal flu vaccine - if they have not already - in addition to practicing good hand hygiene.

'We don't want to let our guard down. We haven't had any influenza cases now for a couple months,' Mercer said. 'But we do expect seasonal flu is going to hit. It could be anytime. It could be this week or a couple months.'

Mercer noted when flu-like cases begin cropping up again, health officials will not immediately know if it is seasonal flu or another wave of H1N1.

'We should know fairly soon, but within those first couple days we'll be sending tests down to the state and they'll tell us. But initially when we start to see some respiratory infections, we're not going to know. That's why we're still recommending people get their H1N1 vaccine," he said.

Viruses, Mercer noted, are 'very unpredictable.' For example, if there is another wave of H1N1, it may impact the population differently.

To date, the virus has been more harmful for children than adults.

And for people who believe they may have already had H1N1, Mercer recommends they still get vaccinated.

'Unless you had a test that states it was H1N1, we're recommending you get the vaccine. It won't hurt you even if you had H1N1,' Mercer said.

He noted the norovirus, or gastrointestinal flu, already is here, but appears more mild than in the past. Currently there is no vaccine for the stomach flu, unlike the seasonal and H1N1 flus, which are respiratory illnesses.

The seasonal flu causes about 36,000 deaths annually.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the H1N1 flu caused between 7,880 to 16,460 deaths from April to December 2009.

Howard Gamble, Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department administrator, said people have been calling to receive the seasonal flu shot.

But the health department can only administer it to Ohio County residents, unlike the H1N1 vaccine, which is federally funded.

Seasonal flu shots for Ohio County residents are available 9-11 a.m. and 1-3 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays by appointment; call 304-234-3682.

And a walk-in clinic for H1N1 is held 9-11 a.m. and 1-3 p.m. Wednesdays.