Re: CT DOH Reporting 8 Deaths Total
8th swine flu death in
Conn.
Patient had other medical conditions
Updated: Thursday, 23 Jul 2009, 7:36 AM EDT
Published : Thursday, 23 Jul 2009, 5:39 AM EDT
By: Kent Pierce
Hartford (AP) -
An 8th person has died from the H1N1 virus in Connecticut.
We don't know much about his latest victim. The state puts out new information on H1N1 every Wednesday, so sometime between last Wednesday and yesterday, someone in their 20's, somewhere in New Haven county died from H1N1.
Like the other fatalties, this person also had other underlying medical conditions.
The state has now seen 1,713 residents test positive for what we used to call swine flu. Of those, 124 patients were sick enough to go to the hospital, and 8 people have died.
The new numbers came out on the same day the Governor and top state health officials held a flu forum for school administrators. They went over ways to deal with an outbreak and how to keep parents informed yet calm.
When H1N1 first appeared this spring, it became clear school is the perfect place for those germs to spread.
"You know, lots of kids in close quarters, lots of sneezes, and blowing your nose and that sort of thing, and playing with your friends," said Leonard Guercia, Connecticut Dept. of Public Health. "That's why we've seen a little bit of a lull coming in the summer months."
Experts think swine flu will be back even stronger this fall as the regular flu season picks up.
In the spring, some schools closed down and scrubbed and cleaned to try to get rid of the germs. Experts at yesterday's forum told News Channel 8 there's no evidence that does anything.
H1N1 travels person to person through sneezing and coughing, not from a contaminated building.
Pretty much all you can do to stop the spread of the flu is wash your hands frequently, and if you're sick, stay home from work. If your kids are sick, keep them home from school.
In a breakdown by parts of the state, the health department says Fairfield County now leads in the number of reported cases with 607 and Windham County has the lowest with 20.
http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/health/news_ap_hartford_8th_swine_flu_death_in_conn_200907230537
