Medical professionals and physicians gathered Thursday morning at Carle Foundation Hospital to listen to speeches about various medical issues, including the nature of the infectious H1N1 virus.

At the hospital’s Foundation Day, Dr. Humayun Chaudhry, commissioner of health services for Suffolk County, N.Y., talked at length about the flu itself and ways that medical professionals are working to contain and educate the public about it.

While the event was mainly for physicians and medical professionals, the ultimate goal was for the information to be passed on to patients.

He said he has worked with other physicians to distribute information out to the public though Facebook, Twitter and daily e-mails via an online listserv.

“Your health is in your hands,” he added.

One concern addressed in the speech was the shortage of the swine flu vaccine. While Chaudhry said physicians hope to vaccinate as many people as possible by December, the production of fewer than expected vaccines has added complications.

“Thirty-one million, eight hundred-thousand instead of 40 million vaccinations were produced,” he added. “It’s been a conundrum.”

There have been 40,167 confirmed cases and 263 deaths because of swine flu in the U.S, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The vaccine is not the only way to help limit symptoms of swine flu. While there is no cure, he talked about the use of Tamiflu and Relenza 2, both antiviral medications, to help fight off the symptoms.

“They diminish adverse outcomes and alleviate symptoms, but do not cure,” Chaudhry said. “Being vigilant is important … The goal is not to prevent a single case but to prevent the spread.”

Chaudhry said the virus takes four days to circle the globe and transmission begins one day before symptoms even occur. The flu tends to be spread by respiratory droplets, sneezing or coughing, he said.

This is not the first appearance of this type of flu. Near the end of the presentation, He compared the swine flu to the Spanish Influenza in 1918. The swine flu is a strain of Influenza A, the same type of influenza that caused the flu in 1918, Chaudhry added.

“It caused scientists to ask: Is this a repeat of 1918?”

Chaudhry was one of the many speakers Carle Foundation Hospital has had for Foundation Day over the years. Barbara Huffman, manager of continuing education at Carle Foundation Hospital, said the event has taken place for 53 years.

“It is the oldest education event for physicians in Illinois,” Huffman said.

Dr. Robert Good from the Mattoon branch of Carle Foundation Hospital said he thought the presentation covered topics that need to be addressed.

“As we saw with Dr. Chaudhry’s presentation, medicine is dynamic,” Good said. “Germs change and our understanding changes.”