CHARLESTON (AP) — West Virginia is getting a break from the so-called swine flu, a respite health officials hope will give them time to get vaccinations to everyone who wants one.

Data released Wednesday show that reported cases of influenza-like illness in West Virginia have dropped from roughly 13,000 a month ago to just over 2,000 last week.

That drop may only be a brief pause before another wave of reports begins, though, officials warn.

Since traditional flu season doesn’t usually start until the end of December or beginning of January, officials say most cases of flu are likely H1N1, commonly called swine flu.

Last week’s sharp drop in cases might be partly attributable to the Thanksgiving holiday, when illness reports typically dip, according to Dr. Dee Bixler, director of infectious disease epidemiology for the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health.

She said the trend for the last month has seen reports of flu dropping steadily.

“We always have substantial underreporting during Thanksgiving Week, but this is a robust trend over the last four weeks,” she said.

The state data also reports 853 hospitalizations and 18 deaths linked to flu this season, although Bixler said those numbers are almost definitely lower than the real toll.

Because the state only counts laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza toward those totals, she said, the real figures are likely higher.

“This is a very quick, very precise number but it is really an underestimate of influenza’s impact on the population,” she said.

The statewide picture is mirrored by swine flu numbers both nationally and locally.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday that widespread infections were reported in 32 states as of Nov. 21, down from 43 states the week before.

Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, which serves West Virginia’s largest county, has also noticed a drop in cases.

“We were seeing up to 500 positive tests at a single hospital a few weeks ago, and now the cases have just plummeted,” he said.

Gupta hopes the respite lasts long enough for county officials to finish giving swine flu vaccinations to the five population segments given priority for the vaccine, including pregnant women and people between the ages of six months and 24 years.

“I think this gives us a window period to complete the vaccination of the target population and be able to open up for the general population after that,” Gupta said.

Both Gupta and Bixler caution that there’s no way to know if the recent drop in flu reports is a long term trend or just a temporary rest.

“Influenza is completely unpredictable,” Bixler said.