"It is absolutely certain that the new school year -- with children back at school, a change in lifestyle, warm weather followed by colder temperatures in the winter -- will help the virus spread," Bachelot told France 2 television.
"We must prepare ourselves, which is what we are doing now," she added.
France will probably raise its swine flu alert from a level five to six in September, the health minister said earlier this week.
That would trigger a catalogue of measures including the possible closure of schools to combat the pandemic.
Source-AFP
LIN