Colorado: Swine flu confirmed in 97 cadets at Air Force Academy; outbreak "on the downward trend"

[thebes]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gp1gViXUMPLBjbAhs3EOHOJtbExgD99B8KDG0

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) ― The Air Force Academy says 84 cadets with flu-like symptoms have been isolated are being tested for swine flu.

Academy spokeswoman Capt. Corinna Jones told The Gazette in Colorado Springs Thursday that most of the cadets are "doolies", members of the incoming freshman class who began training June 25. She said the cadets were under isolation in a dormitory on the base on the north edge of Colorado Springs.

Academy officials said the cadets began coughing and showing other upper respiratory symptoms over the past two days. The academy has contacted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Air Force Surgeon General's office.

Jones said tests were sent to a laboratory in San Antonio for analysis, and results were expected within 24 hours.

The cadets are among about 1,300 recent arrivals for their first weeks of military training. If the 84 have swine flu, it would be Colorado's single largest outbreak in the state.

 

[thebes]

Re: Colorado: 84 sick cadets isolated at Air Force Academy

Re: Colorado: 84 sick cadets isolated at Air Force Academy

15 of 89 sickened AFA students diagnosed with swine flu

July 9, 2009 - 3:55 PM
BRIAN NEWSOME
The Gazette
Fifteen members of the Air Force Academy?s incoming freshman class have been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus, according to early lab test results, making it the largest single outbreak of swine flu in Colorado.

It?s likely that more cases will be diagnosed: Eighty-nine students, most of them doolies, have exhibited flu-like symptoms in recent days, and seasonal influenza does not typically appear until fall. Results of their tests are pending.

No one has been hospitalized, but the sick students have been isolated in an academy dorm, and academy officials are hopeful the outbreak has peaked because only one new case emerged on Friday.

?We are cautiously optimistic,? said Col. Ken Knight, the top doctor at the academy.

Test results of the 15 H1N1 cases have been sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the clearinghouse for U.S. cases. The CDC provides official confirmation of cases.

Because of the outbreak, academy officials canceled today?s Doolie Day Out, a much-anticipated event that would have allowed the 1,344 freshman students to leave the campus and the grind of basic training to spend time with sponsor families.

But a trip to Jack?s Valley, in which freshmen undergo military field training, is still planned to begin Monday for those well enough to participate. Medical staff members attend the training.

No restrictions are being placed on visitors to the academy.

At a press conference Friday, spokesman Brett Ashworth said the academy tried to inform everyone about the outbreak in a timely manner.

It was Tuesday night before officials suspected what was going on, and officials started to spread the word.

?People who have direct daily contact with the cadets knew sooner,? he said.

An academy-wide announcement went on Thursday.

There have been 176 confirmed or probable cases of the virus in Colorado, but this represents the most connected to any single outbreak, said Mark Salley, spokesman for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The academy?s outbreak increased El Paso County?s total cases by 75 percent, from 20 to 35.

http://www.gazette.com/articles/isolated-58238-members-force.html#slComments

 

[the doctor]

Re: Colorado: 84 sick cadets isolated at Air Force Academy

Re: Colorado: 84 sick cadets isolated at Air Force Academy

Not a surprise at all. This outbreak is a consequence of both the age of the cadets and military culture.

I don't understand why the generals don't get it. Did they learn nothing from the Spanish Flu? More fighting men died in the US of flu than on the battle fields of France. A whole lot more in fact.

What they need to do is disperse the solders. Get them out of crowded conditions. This is the only way to reduce the transmission of the flu.

While tradition is important in the military isn't the most venerated tradition of all is the preserve the lives of our fighting men and women?

GW

 

[thebes]

Re: Colorado: Swine flu confirmed in 67 cadets at Air Force Academy; "dozens more" awaiting testing results

Re: Colorado: Swine flu confirmed in 67 cadets at Air Force Academy; "dozens more" awaiting testing results

Swine Flu Is Confirmed in 67 Cadets at the Air Force Academy

Published: July 14, 2009
DENVER ? Sixty-seven Air Force cadets have tested positive for swine flu and are being isolated at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, a spokesman for the academy said Tuesday.

The outbreak is the single largest in Colorado, which up until last week had 146 confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus, according to the State Public Health and Environment Department.

Academy officials first became concerned last week when a growing number of incoming freshman cadets, who began basic training in June, started falling ill with flulike symptoms.

One hundred cadets have been isolated in a dormitory, and test results from an Air Force epidemiology laboratory in Texas found that 67 had contracted swine flu. Results are still pending for dozens of cadets, said John Van Winkle, a spokesman for the academy. Seventy who fell ill were cleared to return to training.

None of the sick cadets have been hospitalized so far, and Mr. Van Winkle described all of the cases as ?moderate.? Nonetheless, academy officials said they would not take any chances and called off the annual ?Doolie Day Out,? in which freshman cadets, who are known as doolies, are allowed to leave campus.

Mr. Van Winkle said it was nearly impossible to determine the source of the outbreak because some cadets had fanned out across the world for various Air Force-related programs. There are 1,341 cadets in the incoming freshman class.

?Our priority right now is treating those that are ill, limiting the spread and educating our entire base population about what we have done and will continue to do,? Mr. Van Winkle said.

Joe Quimby, a spokesman for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, said the centers were working with the Defense Department to investigate the outbreak.

In Colorado, which has seen a relatively low number of swine flu cases until now, a summer youth camp at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley was stopped after 10 students and three staff members exhibited flulike symptoms over the weekend.

There have been about 37,000 confirmed cases of swine flu so far in the United States and its territories. Earlier this month, the Obama administration warned that the illness could resurge in the fall and announced plans to start vaccinations in October.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/us/15flu.html

 

[thebes]

Re: Colorado: Swine flu confirmed in 97 cadets at Air Force Academy; outbreak "on the downward trend"

Air Force Academy officials believe the swine flu outbreak among freshmen at the military school probably has reached its peak, although the number of confirmed cases continued to rise.

Academy spokesman John Van Winkle said Wednesday there were 97 confirmed cases at the school, up from 67 on Tuesday.

However, 93 students remained in isolation Wednesday with flu-like symptoms, down from the peak of 121 earlier this week, he said.

?We?re having less in isolation now,? Van Winkle said. ?We?re on the downward trend.?

The freshman class marched off to Jacks Valley Monday for field training, monitored for signs that the illness. About 100 left behind, including some with confirmed , have since recovered and joined their classmates for basic training. A smaller number have returned to the academy where they are in isolation after falling ill.

The outbreak at the academy is the largest in Colorado, which had 146 confirmed cases through last week.

http://www.gazette.com/articles/flu-58557-cases-swine.html

 

[Niko]

Re: Colorado: Swine flu confirmed in 97 cadets at Air Force Academy; outbreak "on the downward trend"

Novel Influenza A (H1N1) Outbreak at the U.S. Air Force Academy
Epidemiology and Viral Shedding Duration

Catherine Takacs Witkop, MD, MPH, Mark R. Duffy, DVM, MPH, Elizabeth A. Macias, PhD, Thomas F. Gibbons, PhD, James D. Escobar, MPH, Kristen N. Burwell, MPH, Kenneth K. Knight, MD, MPH

Background: The U.S. Air Force Academy is an undergraduate institution that educates and trains cadets for military service. Following the arrival of 1376 basic cadet trainees in June 2009, surveillance revealed an increase in cadets presenting with respiratory illness. Specimens from ill cadets tested positive for novel influenza A (H1N1 [nH1N1])?specific ribonucleic
acid (RNA) by real-time reverse transcriptase?polymerase chain reaction.
Purpose: The outbreak epidemiology, control measures, and nH1N1 shedding duration are described.

Methods: Case patients were identified through retrospective and prospective surveillance. Symptoms, signs, and illness duration were documented. Nasal-wash specimens were tested for nH1N1-specific RNA. Serial samples from a subset of 53 patients were assessed for presence
of viable virus by viral culture.

Results: A total of 134 confirmed and 33 suspected cases of nH1N1 infection were identified with onset date June 25?July 24, 2009. Median age of case patients was 18 years (range, 17?24 years). Fever, cough, and sore throat were the most commonly reported symptoms. The incidence rate among basic cadet trainees during the outbreak period was 11%. Twentynine percent (31/106) of samples from patients with temperature
100?F and 19% (11/58) of samples from patients reporting no symptoms for
24 hours contained viable nH1N1 virus. Of 29 samples obtained 7 days from illness onset, seven (24%) contained viable nH1N1 virus.

Conclusions: In the nH1N1 outbreak under study, the number of cases peaked 48 hours after a social event and rapidly declined thereafter. Almost one quarter of samples obtained 7 days from illness onset contained viable nH1N1 virus.

These data may be useful for future investigations
and in scenario planning. (Am J Prev Med 2009;xx(x):xx)

Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of American Journal of Preventive Medicine

Full doc here: http://www.ajpm-online.net/webfiles/images/journals/amepre/AJPM_Witkop.pdf