More than 80 H1N1 flu virus cases have been reported in Winnebago County. And Aletha Cunningham is one of them.

"They called me and said I tested positive for it," she says.

She considers her case mild and not worth future protection.

"Are you planning on getting the vaccine?" I asked.
"Probably not," she responded.
"Why not?"
"Just because I've been told if you have it you can't get it again," she said.

That's not true. In fact, there are a lot of misconceptions about H1N1 and the vaccine. For instance, even though currently the seasonal flu is nine times more deadly than H1N1, it doesn't mean H1N1 is any less serious.

"The problem is it could do a genetic shift that's far more dangerous or pick up a strain for example H5N1 which we had a couple years ago which could be deadly but isn't contagious," says Daniel Reilly of the Winnebago County Health Department.

Health officials warn skeptics the vaccine is safe, will not make us sick and cannot harm a child's development.

"None of the studies have shown a correlation between the therasol in the vaccine and autism in children," says Reilly.

Some blood centers report H1N1 misconceptions are leading to lack of donations. While that's not quite the case at Rock River Valley, they do report an increase in cancellations.

"The flu shot at no time will affect your eligibility to donate, it's not a live virus, it's just a precautionary measure," says Jen Bowman of the Rock River Valley Blood Center.

Blood donations are not accepted from those currently sick with the flu. The biggest demand right now, is O-. Since almost anyone could use it. Which will come in handy as we approach a slow holiday season.

If it seems the h1n1 death count spiked, that's because the CDC is now considering deaths brought on by the flu as an H1N1-related death. For instance, if a person had H1N1, but died from pneumonia, the CDC reports that as an H1N1-death.