Doctors fear 33 premature babies infected with swine flu

[Treyfish]

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June 17, 5:25 PM ? Add a Comment



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Doctors at a North Carolina hospital fear 33 premature infants were exposed to
the H1N1swine flu virus by a respiratory therapist, and are currently providing
precautionary swine flu treatment for the infants at the neonatal intensive care
unit of Women's Hospital of Greensboro. Photo: CreativeCommons/C?sar Rinc?n
Doctors fear 33 premature infants were exposed to the H1N1 swine flu virus by a respiratory therapist, and are currently providing precautionary swine flu treatment for the infants at the neonatal intensive care unit of Women's Hospital of Greensboro.

So far, none of the infants has shown any symptoms of the disease though they are being quarantined from other babies, said officials with Moses Cone Health System.

A respiratory therapist who treated the babies later tested positive for the virus, said Medical Director Dr. Tim Lane. A few days later, the therapist worked a shift in the babies' unit.

The therapist has been sent home, and her full swine flu test results will be available later in the week.

:tiphat:http://www.examiner.com/x-8543-SF-H...r-33-premature-babies-infected-with-swine-flu

 

[Lizw]

Re: Doctors fear 33 premature babies infected with swine flu

Doctors fear 33 premature infants were exposed to the H1N1 swine flu virus by a respiratory therapist, and are currently providing precautionary swine flu treatment for the infants at the neonatal intensive care unit of Women's Hospital of Greensboro.

In everything that's been said about today's medical situation being different from 1918, one thing I haven't seen mentioned is that we have some highly vulnerable groups that didn't exist in 1918. NICU's are just one of them.

 

[Chuck]

Re: Doctors fear 33 premature babies infected with swine flu

http://www.news-record.com/content/2009/06/19/article/officials_warn_of_increase_in_flu

This article includes additional information about the exposure.
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Triad health officials warn of increase in flu
Saturday, June 20, 2009
By Joe Killian
Staff Writer


GREENSBORO ? Triad health professionals are warning people to take flulike symptoms seriously in the wake of a number of H1N1 virus cases.

Moses Cone Health System spokesman Doug Allred and Guilford County public officials stressed Friday that flulike symptoms now, well outside of flu season, should be heeded and treated immediately.

?There are growing numbers of people with flu symptoms in the community,? Allred said in a statement to the media and posted on Cone?s Web site Friday. ?Anyone with flulike symptoms at this time likely has H1N1. They should stay at home, drink plenty of fluids, treat their symptoms with over-the-counter medications, avoid contacts with others and contact their personal physician if necessary.?

Four cases of swine flu were confirmed in Greensboro this week. None of the patients is being identified because of medical privacy concerns.

Guilford County has had six cases of H1N1, or swine flu, since the rare influenza virus was identified several months ago.

The most alarming was this week?s case of a respiratory therapist with the Moses Cone Health System who unknowingly exposed 33 babies at The Women?s Hospital after she was infected by an emergency room patient.

As of late Friday, none of the babies had any symptoms. As a preventative measure the hospital is treating them with Tamiflu, a drug that blocks the spread of influenza. Their health is being monitored closely.

Allred said the hospital has given Tamiflu to 156 people who could have been exposed to the virus.

One of those confirmed cases was an emergency room patient at Moses Cone and another a patient at The Women?s Hospital.

Both patients were believed to have been sick when they arrived at the hospital.

The respiratory therapist who treated the emergency room patient tested positive on Thursday ? the same day that a UNCG student tested positive at the campus? health center.

The student was the second at UNCG to test positive for the virus, though the cases are believed to be unrelated.

The student who tested positive Thursday lives and works off campus. UNCG Chancellor Linda Brady sent a letter to students, staff and faculty Thursday.

?Please remember that the best protection against this flu is good personal hygiene,? Brady said in the letter. ?These practices include thorough hand washing with warm water and soap, or alcohol-based hand sanitizers; covering coughs and sneezes with a disposable tissue or by coughing or sneezing into a bended elbow or sleeve; and practicing social distancing by staying home away from others if sick.?

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the number of confirmed and probable H1N1 cases Friday morning.

The count has risen from 18,000 cases last week to 21,449 this week.

Deaths have nearly doubled from 44 last week to 87 as of Friday.



The Associated Press contributed to this report.



Contact Joe Killian at 373-7023 or joe.killian@news-record.com

 

[thebes]

Re: Doctors fear 33 premature babies infected with swine flu

Babies exposed to swine flu not showing signs of it
Monday, June 22, 2009
Staff Report

GREENSBORO ? Seven of 33 babies believed to have been exposed to the H1N1 virus at The Women?s Hospital have now gone home, Moses Cone Health System officials said Monday in a news release.

None of the babies, all from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, have shown signs of the swine flu, officials said. A respiratory therapist who unknowingly exposed the babies tested positive on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the hospital system?s emergency departments and urgent care center saw 121 people with flu symptoms on Sunday. By comparison, 100 people seeking care complained of such symptoms on Saturday.

Hospital officials ask that anyone with flu-like symptoms stay at home, drink plenty of fluids, treat their symptoms with over-the-counter medications, avoid contact with others and contact their personal physician if necessary. Officials also say that anyone with a fever or flu symptoms should not visit patients in the hospital. Children under age 6 should also avoid visiting hospital patients.

http://www.news-record.com/content/...ies_exposed_to_swine_flu_not_showing_signs_it

----------------------------------------------------

Also, the Moses Cone Health System, which owns the Greensboro hospital, has an H1N1 section on the front page of its website with daily updates posted - that's where these patient numbers come from. I wish more health care providers did this.

http://www.mosescone.com/bodypat.cfm?id=42

 

[Lizw]

Re: Doctors fear 33 premature babies infected with swine flu

Meanwhile, the hospital system?s emergency departments and urgent care center saw 121 people with flu symptoms on Sunday. By comparison, 100 people seeking care complained of such symptoms on Saturday

..

Also, the Moses Cone Health System, which owns the Greensboro hospital, has an H1N1 section on the front page of its website with daily updates posted - that's where these patient numbers come from. I wish more health care providers did this.

Really interesting. I have two friends who are ER nurses at a hospital in Winston-Salem, barely 30 miles from Greensboro. I ran into them this morning and asked about their patient load. Both of them said they had seen very few people with flu symptoms, and that no one at all had tested positive. Odd that there should be such a significant difference between the two hospitals in what really amounts to a single large metropolitan area.