LITTLE ROCK – Swine flu has moved across Arkansas in a similar pattern to a fall influenza outbreak, and the state Health Department said Tuesday that residents should protect themselves now just as they do during the usual flu season.

Dr. Sandra Snow of the Health Department, a specialist in communicable diseases, says it’s deceptive to look at the number of positive tests for the virus without context. The state now has 42 people confirmed to have contracted swine flu, but the only ones being tested are hospitalized and in high-risk categories for complications.

“We have flu statewide. Everyone just has to assume it is in their community and act like they would do when there is seasonal flu,” she said.

Swine flu symptoms are like those of seasonal flu, including fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. The virus most commonly spreads person-to-person, by sneezing or coughing.

To help control the spread, people should avoid crowds, wash their hands frequently, cover coughs and sneezes with an elbow and stay home when feeling sick – “just like seasonal flu,” Snow said.

The Health Department says that although the swine flu strain is mild, it’s still treated as seriously as seasonal flu, which kills about 36,000 each year in the United States.

The swine-flu outbreak – already termed a pandemic by the World Health Organization – could pick up steam when children return to school next month, Snow said.

“It depends on how many got it this summer,” Snow said. If plenty of children are already immune, the spread at school would be limited.

Snow said Arkansas is developing possible plans to vaccinate residents when a swine flu vaccine becomes available, and is waiting for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to specify which groups to target first. The Health Department already plans to give more seasonal flu vaccines by offering them at schools across the state, which the agency has not done in the past.

“We hope to be able to offer both at the same time,” Snow said.

The department is planning to again conduct its mass clinics at the end of October, which has proven in past years to be an effective way of getting people their flu shots. Snow said there is still concern among health officials that the swine flu virus could mutate into a harsher variety that would be more deadly.