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Officials call swine flu widespread - 25% increase

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  • Officials call swine flu widespread - 25% increase

    Officials call swine flu widespread


    Officials call swine flu widespread

    by: KIM ARCHER World Staff Writer
    Thursday, September 10, 2009
    9/10/2009 3:47:56 AM

    The number of novel swine flu cases is rising sharply in Oklahoma, and federal authorities have upgraded the state's flu activity to widespread, state health officials said Wednesday.

    "We seem to be on the sharp slope up," state epidemiologist Dr. Kristy Bradley said.

    Tulsa County is among five of eight regions in the state that saw a 25 percent rise in swine flu cases last week, she said. Other than in Tulsa County, northeastern Oklahoma cases have remained stable.

    Health officials don't recommend that people with flu-like symptoms go to the emergency room.

    "That's the worst thing you could do, primarily because you are going to spread it to everybody else," said Dr. Stanley Grogg, interim director of the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences in Tulsa.

    Or, if you don't have the flu, you're likely to get it from others in ER waiting rooms.

    "Unless you're at high risk, it's pretty mild. And it lasts about two or three days," Grogg said. He also is co-chairman of the Oklahoma Immunization Advisory Committee.

    At St. Francis Hospital's emergency room, more patients are coming in with flu-like illnesses, and most of them are children, said Mary Johnson, executive director of patient services.

    "That's consistent with the national trend and we're expecting that trend to continue," she said.

    St. John Medical Center's Tulsa and Owasso facilities have also reported an increase in the number of patients, as well as SouthCrest Hospital in southeast Tulsa.

    Most cases have been mild and patients were treated and released. Health officials say people with flu-like symptoms should stay home until the symptoms are gone and they have no fever for 24 hours without using fever-reducing medications.

    Generally, if a patient tests positive for a type A influenza strain now, it is assumed to be H1N1 or swine flu virus, he said.

    "The seasonal flu is not out there right now. So we're assuming if you test positive for A, you've got swine flu," Grogg said.

    Bradley said about two-thirds of all cases in Oklahoma have been among people ages 24 and under. Of the seven hospitalizations associated with swine flu so far, five of those were children under age 18, she said.

    "Schools are a huge breeding ground for influenza-like illness," said Dave Cox, director of emergency preparedness and response at the Tulsa Health Department.

    As a result, the agency will send three-member strike teams to every Tulsa County school to provide free immunization against the swine flu virus, he said. The Visiting Nurse Association and Tulsa Fire Department paramedics will be assigned to those strike teams, he said.

    Because the vaccine is voluntary, parents must sign permission slips for their child to be inoculated, Cox said.

    "We would ask people to practice what they normally would in a normal flu season," said Bradley. "And that is rest, drink plenty of fluids and stay home."

    If people have prolonged illness, high fevers and other symptoms, that is when they should seek medical attention. Those among groups at higher risk for complications should call their physicians in the early stages of the flu, Bradley said.

    Flu symptoms include fever, headache, body aches, chills, coughing, fatigue, runny or stuffy nose and sore throat.
    Populations at high risk

    * Pregnant women

    * People who live with or care for children younger than six months of age

    * Persons ages 6 months to 2 years

    * Persons ages 25 to 6 years of age who have health conditions associated with higher risk of complications from the flu

    * Health care and emergency workers

    Source: Oklahoma State Department of Health
    Who has reported the swine flu?
    Oklahoma State University had about 100 cases of swine flu reported in the last month, while the University of Tulsa has reported a handful. The University of oklahoma doesn’t tally individual cases.

    A student at owasso Public School’s Sixth Grade Center and another in Broken Arrow Public Schools were confirmed with swine flu last month. Students and staff members at Skiatook Public Schools and Bixby Public Schools have also been ill with flu-like symptoms. A Cascia Hall student has been reported with a confirmed case of the virus.

    Those reported cases do not necessarily reflect the true spread of the illness.

    The state health department has stopped reporting individual cases of swine flu because many people stay home with the illness and aren’t tested.

    The agency also has produced new guidelines to hospitals and doctors in the state on who should get further testing for swine flu. It requests specimens submitted to the state lab for influenza testing be limited to: those hospitalized or who died from flu; pregnant women; health care providers or those involved in direct patient care; employees or residents of residential care facilities; or those associated with an outbreak for whom testing has been approved by a state epidemiologist.

    Kim Archer 581-8315
    kim.archer@tulsaworld.com
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