By now, you've likely known someone who has had a fever and cough and you may even know someone who's been tested for H1N1.  But with hundreds of sick kids out of school and several co-workers staying home, you may be wondering, is the worst behind us?

Exactly a week ago, the Sioux Falls school district saw their peak of absences: 10 percent of kids across the district stayed home sick and 253 subs were called in.

“We didn't really know what to expect,” district Nursing Director Sheila Freed said.

But what they did expect has happened; those numbers have gone down.

“It's coming down a little bit each day as an overall district,” Freed said.

As of Monday, only eight percent of kids districtwide were sick from school and 115 subs were needed.  So are fewer sick kids a sign that the H1N1 bug has peaked?

“I continuously say this, we could wake up tomorrow to a major patient surge,” Sanford Health's Emergency Medical Services Manager Greg Santa Maria said.

Santa Maria says we're likely at the peak of wave two but it still may be too early to tell.

“Until we see week after week after week of downturn in cases, then we could probably safely say, 'Yeah, we're on the downturn of this,'” Santa Maria said.

Certainly fewer sick kids is a good sign but Freed agrees we may not be out of the woods yet.

“It's not gone away and although we have seen many sick children in our community, I don't know that that's going to be it,” Freed said.

According to history, we haven't seen the last of the virus.

“Historically, the third wave is usually not as big as the second wave but there have been cases in other influenzas where the third wave was just as big as the second wave,” Santa Maria said.

And Santa Maria says that third wave could show its face after the Christmas Holiday, which should give people all the more reason to still seek out the H1N1 vaccine.

“We need to keep that energy going as this thing starts waning out and people are less worried about it,” Santa Maria said. 

The H1N1 vaccine is becoming more readily available. Several counties across South Dakota have started vaccinating high risk groups at flu shot clinics.