By MIKE STOBBE / AP

Let us give thanks. And pass the Purell.

Your family might be sharing more than turkey and pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving. Swine flu may also be on the table - and at crowded airports and shopping malls.

Just as the pandemic seems to be waning around the country, some health officials are worried that holiday gatherings could lead to more infections. So the government has launched a new travel-health campaign.

“It’s important to remember the things that everybody can do to stay healthy,’’ said Dr. Beth Bell of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Thanksgiving is typically followed by at least a modest bump in early seasonal flu cases, according to reports from the past few years. But this, of course, is not a typical year. Swine flu is a new virus that accounts for nearly all flu cases right now.

Despite weeks of declining infections, health officials are staying vigilant. The federal government is putting up posters in airports, seaports and border crossings in time for Thanksgiving. The campaign also includes advertisements with slogans such as ``Stop, Wash & Go.’’

The CDC urges people to travel only if they are well, get vaccinated against swine and seasonal flu, wash their hands often, and cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or sleeve.

Some 33 million Americans are expected to hit the nation’s highways over the Thanksgiving holiday, a slight increase from last year. About 2.3 million more will travel by airplane.

The elbow-to-elbow conditions expected on many flights may pose more of an infection threat than a runny-nosed tike at the other end of a Thanksgiving dinner table. One CDC official even suggested asking that a sick passenger be moved to another part of a plane.

But that’s not likely to happen on a crowded airliner or bus, and it isn’t much of a solution anyway, said a few people waiting at Atlanta’s downtown Greyhound station on Tuesday morning.

“That’s just putting it next to somebody else,’’ said Judd Nelson, 39, waiting to start a two-day bus trip to Phoenix.

Nelson had not been vaccinated against swine flu, and he did not have any hand sanitizer. He was resigned to his fate if someone with swine flu happens to be aboard his bus.

“The way I look at it is, if I get it, I’m going to get it no matter what,’’ he said.

Swine flu has sickened an estimated 22 million Americans, hospitalized about 98,000 and killed 4,000 since it was first identified last April. It is similar to seasonal flu but poses a much bigger threat to children and young adults.

Usually, seasonal flu is just getting going in late November, and holiday get-togethers allow illness to jump from small pockets to other parts of the country. Swine flu, in contrast, has been widespread for months.

“It’s not like we expect to see a bunch of infected people going to uninfected cities and towns,’’ said Andrew Pekosz, a flu expert at Johns Hopkins University.

The swine flu pandemic hit in two waves: first in the spring, then a larger wave that started in the late summer.

For the past three weeks, fewer states have been reporting widespread cases. School closings have dropped to the point that there were none on Monday - the first time that’s happened since late August - though there were six on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

But there are still plenty of ill people - as many as during the peak of many regular flu seasons, CDC officials say.

Indeed, disease trackers are quick to say that flu is unpredictable. A variety of things could happen, including a third wave or a mutation that could make the virus more deadly or less susceptible to medicines.

“We really don’t know what the trajectory is going to be,’’ said Bell, a CDC epidemiologist who has been a leader in the agency’s swine flu response.

Seasonal flu usually emerges at this time of year, but some experts think swine flu will muscle aside the seasonal viruses. That probably will not be known until next month, said Dr. Richard Whitley, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

At New York’s Pennsylvania Station, Katie Almroth was waiting to board a train Tuesday with her 11-month-old daughter Anna, who’s been vaccinated for seasonal flu but not for swine flu. They were headed to Harrisburg, Pa., to visit relatives for Thanksgiving.

The 33-year-old nurse from Jersey City, N.J., said she was not worried about traveling during the swine flu pandemic, but felt more comfortable on a train than an airplane with her daughter.

“I must admit I did bring little wipes along,’’ said Almroth, showing the antiseptic wipes she had tossed in her bag with small bottles of hand sanitizer.

Chambliss urges more troops for Afghanistan

Sen. Saxby Chambliss is leading a Georgia congressional delegation that’s visiting Afghanistan, and he says the U.S. must increase its troop strength there.

The delegation includes Republican Reps. Tom Price and Lynn Westmoreland, and Democratic Rep. John Barrow.

On Thursday, the delegation had Thanksgiving dinner with troops from the 48th Infantry Brigade, part of the Georgia Army National Guard.

President Barack Obama is expected to announce a major increase in U.S. troops in Afghanistan next week.

Chambliss, a Republican, is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and will have a say in sending additional troops to Afghanistan. He told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is comfortable that the right decision will be reached.

Hank Aaron steps to plate in Atlanta mayor’s race

Baseball legend Hank Aaron is among the latest members of the chorus of Georgians singing Kasim Reed’s praises for mayor of Atlanta.

Former mayor Andrew Young, who was among the first to endorse Reed, corralled Aaron and more than a dozen others, including current Mayor Shirley Franklin, state lawmakers, residents and even the ex-state senator’s former teachers in a 6-minute video to be featured on Young’s Facebook page.

Reed is facing city councilwoman Mary Norwood in a runoff election on Dec. 1 and political observers largely expect voters to cast their ballot along racial lines. If elected, Norwood would become the city’s first white mayor since 1973.

The video was made on Reed’s behalf, but independently of his campaign.

Atlanta’s Grady at Medicaid impasse with insurer

Medical care for thousands of patients at Grady Memorial Hospital could be disrupted because the insurer that handles the hospital’s Medicaid says it will terminate its contract Saturday.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports Wednesday that it learned of Peach State Health Plan’s preparation to terminate the contract after months of negotiations.

Peach State is an insurer hired by the state of Georgia to handle Medicaid claims with numerous health care providers, including a portion of Grady patients.

While Grady and Peach State have agreed that Grady will continue to serve these patients until Dec. 31, the termination - if it becomes effective - could represent a change in medical services for thousands of Grady patients.

Those affected would have to find new doctors at a new medical facility, Grady spokesman Matt Gove said.

“This would be a disruption in the medical care of thousands of people,’’ Gove said.

Peach State officials sent a letter to state legislators Wednesday saying Grady will no longer be a contracted provider effective Nov. 28.

The letter said patients will be notified before Dec. 1. Peach State said the change would affect 2,182 patients, but Grady officials said the number is more than 12,000, a small percentage of the hospital’s patient population.

Gove said it is “highly unlikely’’ that the two sides will return to negotiations before the end of the year.

The impasse between Grady and the company reflects other intense negotiations between insurers and hospitals in metro Atlanta. The majority work out an agreement at the end.

Peach State officials said patients will not have their care interrupted.

“Patients who are pregnant, receiving chemotherapy, dialysis ... may remain at Grady until their course of care is completed or until alternate care arrangements are made,’’ the Peach State letter said.

Peach State has set up a hotline for patients’ questions, at 1-866-229-2892.

Grady also accepts Medicaid from the two other insurers hired by the state to handle Medicaid. Peach State patients can attempt to switch insurers on their annual renewal date.

Peach State said Grady has already increased its charges to the insurer twice this year and has demanded a third increase.

“Such unchecked price increases are clearly unsustainable,’’ said the Peach State letter.

Grady’s Gove said Grady has been attempting to match its charges to market rates.