Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
Flu cases on the rise in Louisiana
Posted: 55 minutes ago
NEW ORLEANS ? At least 851 cases of the H1N1 virus known as swine flu have been confirmed in Louisiana this year and seven people have died, state health officials say.
As with the seasonal flu ? which kills 600 to 1,000 Louisiana residents a year ? officials say many people who get sick just need to stay home and take medicine for their coughs, achy muscles, fever, sore throat or nausea.
?However, people who have underlying medical conditions, women who are pregnant, or very young children should contact their doctor if they develop flu symptoms to see if they need further interventions or medications,? according to a fact sheet at state health department Web site, www.flula.com.
The opening of schools normally brings with it a wave of ailments because children are in close quarters and germs are easily spread.
The season has been busy so far at schools around Louisiana. School health professionals are especially watchful for flu-like symptoms.
Nurse Yolunda LaCroix says she?s been sending about five kids a day home since August because they may have the flu. LaCroix shuttles between two New Orleans public elementary schools, each with an enrollment of 500 to 600.
LaCroix said flu symptoms showed up early and often early in the school year. ?I can?t tell you the percentage. But I?ve been a school nurse for 12 years. ? It?s a big, big increase,? she said.
State health officials, in an update Monday, said as many as 51,000 people probably have been infected with swine flu this year.
The swine flu virus emerged as a global threat earlier this year. Though it did not reach feared levels of impact, it?s expected to surge in the coming months.
Even during the summer, when ?we sort of expected H1N1 to fizzle,? it popped up here and there, said Dr. Frank Welch, medical director for the state Office of Public Health.
For example, about 100 children who expected to spend the last week of July at a summer camp for children with cancer were sent home the second day of Camp Challenge in New Orleans because some had flu-like symptoms.
Chemotherapy reduces immunity. All of the children got antiviral medicine, said Dr. Rodolfo Begue, head of the infectious diseases department at Children?s Hospital of New Orleans.
He said about one-third did get flu, though only four were confirmed swine flu cases. ?All of them did well.?
Collecting children close together in classrooms lets the bug spread fast. At Children?s, the emergency room is seeing more than double the normal 120 to 130 patients a day, Dr. Mark Carbon said. Children who exhibit flu-like symptoms are given surgical masks to wear while they wait to be examined.
New Orleans? Recovery School District has 16 nurses to cover 33 schools. Budget cuts reduced the staff in recent years but the swine threat has prompted the district to act.
?We are trying desperately to get most of them back,? said Dr. Corey Hebert, the district?s medical director.
The district is sending consent forms to parents for the seasonal and H1N1 vaccines, which it will get as a nasal spray, said nurse supervision Marilyn Hammett. Last year, she said, only about 1,400 out of 12,000 students returned signed consent forms for flu vaccine.
Students at highest risk, such as those with asthma or other chronic diseases, need to get the shot, which the schools won?t be administering, she said.
The Centers for Disease Control recommends everyone who would normally get a winter flu shot get one now, and return for a swine flu vaccination when those become available. Supplies are expected to begin trickling in during October.
?The more people we can get vaccinated for seasonal flu, that?ll decrease demand on the capacity for people who have H1N1,? said Alan Levine, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. ?It?s really important that we be aggressive in terms of vaccination for seasonal flu.?
Faced with a state budget shortfall, his department cut spending for Medicaid, addiction treatment and mental health, including a New Orleans mental hospital for children and adolescents. ?We didn?t cut anything directly related to the public health response or flu,? Levine said.
Welch said public health clinics have vaccinated as many as 26,000 people for seasonal flu in six hours in past years, and are preparing to give as many as 40,000 free seasonal flu vaccinations in November.
http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/family/story/5998070/
Posted: 55 minutes ago
NEW ORLEANS ? At least 851 cases of the H1N1 virus known as swine flu have been confirmed in Louisiana this year and seven people have died, state health officials say.
As with the seasonal flu ? which kills 600 to 1,000 Louisiana residents a year ? officials say many people who get sick just need to stay home and take medicine for their coughs, achy muscles, fever, sore throat or nausea.
?However, people who have underlying medical conditions, women who are pregnant, or very young children should contact their doctor if they develop flu symptoms to see if they need further interventions or medications,? according to a fact sheet at state health department Web site, www.flula.com.
The opening of schools normally brings with it a wave of ailments because children are in close quarters and germs are easily spread.
The season has been busy so far at schools around Louisiana. School health professionals are especially watchful for flu-like symptoms.
Nurse Yolunda LaCroix says she?s been sending about five kids a day home since August because they may have the flu. LaCroix shuttles between two New Orleans public elementary schools, each with an enrollment of 500 to 600.
LaCroix said flu symptoms showed up early and often early in the school year. ?I can?t tell you the percentage. But I?ve been a school nurse for 12 years. ? It?s a big, big increase,? she said.
State health officials, in an update Monday, said as many as 51,000 people probably have been infected with swine flu this year.
The swine flu virus emerged as a global threat earlier this year. Though it did not reach feared levels of impact, it?s expected to surge in the coming months.
Even during the summer, when ?we sort of expected H1N1 to fizzle,? it popped up here and there, said Dr. Frank Welch, medical director for the state Office of Public Health.
For example, about 100 children who expected to spend the last week of July at a summer camp for children with cancer were sent home the second day of Camp Challenge in New Orleans because some had flu-like symptoms.
Chemotherapy reduces immunity. All of the children got antiviral medicine, said Dr. Rodolfo Begue, head of the infectious diseases department at Children?s Hospital of New Orleans.
He said about one-third did get flu, though only four were confirmed swine flu cases. ?All of them did well.?
Collecting children close together in classrooms lets the bug spread fast. At Children?s, the emergency room is seeing more than double the normal 120 to 130 patients a day, Dr. Mark Carbon said. Children who exhibit flu-like symptoms are given surgical masks to wear while they wait to be examined.
New Orleans? Recovery School District has 16 nurses to cover 33 schools. Budget cuts reduced the staff in recent years but the swine threat has prompted the district to act.
?We are trying desperately to get most of them back,? said Dr. Corey Hebert, the district?s medical director.
The district is sending consent forms to parents for the seasonal and H1N1 vaccines, which it will get as a nasal spray, said nurse supervision Marilyn Hammett. Last year, she said, only about 1,400 out of 12,000 students returned signed consent forms for flu vaccine.
Students at highest risk, such as those with asthma or other chronic diseases, need to get the shot, which the schools won?t be administering, she said.
The Centers for Disease Control recommends everyone who would normally get a winter flu shot get one now, and return for a swine flu vaccination when those become available. Supplies are expected to begin trickling in during October.
?The more people we can get vaccinated for seasonal flu, that?ll decrease demand on the capacity for people who have H1N1,? said Alan Levine, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. ?It?s really important that we be aggressive in terms of vaccination for seasonal flu.?
Faced with a state budget shortfall, his department cut spending for Medicaid, addiction treatment and mental health, including a New Orleans mental hospital for children and adolescents. ?We didn?t cut anything directly related to the public health response or flu,? Levine said.
Welch said public health clinics have vaccinated as many as 26,000 people for seasonal flu in six hours in past years, and are preparing to give as many as 40,000 free seasonal flu vaccinations in November.
http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/family/story/5998070/