FULLERTON, Calif. -- When Sarah Mickelson left in June for an internship in southern England, a flu pandemic was the furthest thought from her mind.

"I definitely didn't (think about swine flu)," said Mickelson, who will be a senior at Troy High School in Fullerton in the fall. "The symptoms aren't really any different from the flu, and I think everyone's been making a big deal of it, and it's not something everyone should be scared of."

Yet the swine flu, officially known as the H1N1 virus, has been a big deal worldwide -- big enough for the World Health Organization to declare the disease the first flu pandemic since 1968.

As of July 29, there have been more than 158,000 infections and 950 deaths in 141 countries and territories.

Among the areas the virus has impacted is international student travel, both for semesters abroad and enrichment programs.

Students, schools and parents are weighing the traditional upside of educational opportunities abroad with the possibility of illness or at least inconvenience. The latter was seen July 20, when members of the Maryland Junior Volleyball Club were quarantined then released after guests at a Beijing hotel where the team was staying were found to have the virus.

The H1N1 virus burst onto the scene in March as the first cases were identified in Mexico, followed by cases found in the United States. As media coverage of the disease expanded in April, some schools altered their student travel plans for spring break and summer.

Tourism companies such as EF Educational Tours, based in Massachusetts, and Student Travel Services, based in Maryland, had customers who switched their travel destinations to avoid disease hotspots.

"In April, when the flu first became prevalent, we reacted quickly to help alter the travel plans of our groups that were going to Mexico this summer," said Eric Beato, director of communications at EF Educational Tours.

"Some groups chose to rebook their tours to Costa Rica or Europe."

However, there have been very few similar complications since the initial scare.

Worries have been rising globally; the WHO has stated that it expects a resurgence of H1N1 in the Northern Hemisphere during the flu season, which reaches its peak during the winter. The United Kingdom, Argentina and Australia also are experiencing large numbers of new infections, yet many United States travelers have not been deterred.

"No drop in students that want to travel," said Russell Tebeleff, director of sales at Student Travel Services. "Really the only impact would be on people looking into Jamaica as opposed to Mexico.

"The swine flu hasn't declined travel, it just pushed it into different destinations. Before, Mexico was the biggest destination for our customers, whereas now it's spread out a little more."

In fact, many students have been encouraged to take advantage of slashed airline or hotel prices that are a result of the economy and the swine flu. Eric Tiettmeyer, editor and publisher of Student Traveler magazine in Los Angeles, cited a sense of adventure and opportunity in students.

"College students are less averse to things like natural disasters and something like the swine flu," Tiettmeyer said.

"After the bird flu in Asia, students were still going and maybe even more students going because of the better deals. I think they're immune to bad things that happen in other countries because they're willing to go anyway, and they're more likely to go anyway because of the cheaper deals.

"I'm telling them it's the best time to go," he said.

The Orange County Department of Education has not yet given specific advice to schools regarding international travel; however, it has posted links to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the WHO on its Web site. According to Pamela Kahn, coordinator of Health and Wellness with the department, students "should worry about it no more or no less than any other flu. ... Students just need to be aware of the situation (with H1N1) in the country they visit, and they should know how and where to seek treatment if they need it."

Mickelson stayed for four weeks in the United Kingdom, which had a startling 3,197 new infections, a 75.2 percent jump, between June 29 and July 6.

"Whenever I read the newspaper, there was always one article about swine flu, like: 'Teenage girl killed from swine flu,'" Mickelson said.

"I had no worries aside from that. More people die from the regular flu every year, and I know that. So why be worried about something you can't control? Just be careful, wash your hands, do the stuff that you normally would to stay healthy."