::INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC IN PRISON, USA, 2 DEATHS::

[Giuseppe]

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INFLUENZA, PRISON - USA: (CALIFORNIA)
A ProMED-mail post <http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases <http://www.isid.org>

Date: Fri 7 Mar 2008
Source: SignOnSanDiego.com, Associated Press report [edited]
<http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20080307-1738-ca-prisonflu.html>

An influenza outbreak at a state prison has sickened more than 500 prisoners since last month [February 2008], forcing the facility to bar new inmates and visitors, officials said Friday [7 Mar 2008].

Inmates at Chuckawalla Valley State Prison began experiencing flu-like symptoms on 23 Feb 2008, said prison administrative assistant Lt. Debbie Asuncion.
The symptoms include fever, cough and body aches.

Asuncion said 546 inmates have become ill, and 10 of them were hospitalized.

Two inmates died, and those deaths were being investigated to determine if they were related to influenza, Asuncion said.

Eight remained hospitalized, and the rest were being treated at the prison.

The prison was closed to all visitors, including attorneys and volunteers, to keep the public from being exposed.

The prison also was not receiving or transferring inmates and was restricting inmate movement within the prison, Asuncion said. Chuckawalla Valley State
prison is a low-to-medium-security prison that currently houses 3147 inmates, Asuncion said.

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Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Brent Barrett

[The high attack rate in this outbreak (546 persons among 3147 inmates) since 23 Feb 2008 is probably a reflection of population density. It also suggests that availability and/or uptake of the current seasonal influenza vaccine has been unsatisfactory.

According to the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) for 15 Feb 2008 <http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm57e215a1.htm>,
influenza activity since the beginning of the 2007-2008 influenza season remained low in the United States. Activity increased from early December 2007 through the end of the year and has continued to increase in January and February 2008.

This season [2007-2008], more influenza A viruses than influenza B viruses have been identified in all regions. Among influenza A viruses, influenza A (H1N1) has predominated in the New England, Mid-Atlantic, West North Central, Mountain, and Pacific regions, and influenza A (H3N2) has predominated in the East North Central, South Atlantic, East South Central, and West South Central regions. This season, laboratory-confirmed influenza has been reported by the District of Columbia and 47 states from all 9 surveillance regions.

Since 1977, influenza A (H1N1), influenza A (H3N2), and influenza B viruses have circulated globally. Each year's influenza vaccine contains a virus representing each of these 3 distinct influenza virus groups. The 3 viruses selected to be included in this season's [2007-2008] vaccine were selected in February 2007 as the viruses that appeared most likely to be circulating during this influenza season. The degree of antigenic match between current influenza vaccine strains and the influenza viruses that are circulating this
season will continue to be assessed as more viruses become available for analysis. To date, 91 percent of influenza A (H1N1) viruses sent to CDC for antigenic characterization were similar to A/Solomon Islands/3/2006, the influenza A (H1N1) component of the 2007-2008 influenza vaccine. Although the majority of influenza A (H3N2) and influenza B viruses are not optimally matched, vaccination with the trivalent influenza vaccine continues to be recommended because the vaccine can provide partial protection against related strains and reduce the risk for influenza-related complications and deaths. In addition, the vaccine contains 3 strains, and communities can
experience outbreaks with more than one strain of influenza in a given year.

The interactive HealthMap of the United States is available at
<http://healthmap.org/promed?v=40,-97.6,4>.
A map of the state of California is available at
<http://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/states/california/california-maps/california-road.jpg> showing the city of Blythe in the southeastern extremity. - Mod.CP]
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http://apex.oracle.com/pls/otn/f?p=..._BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,71764
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?It may be involved Adenovirus 14 or MRSA in this outbreak as well.?
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[Sally Furniss]

Re: ::INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC IN PRISON, USA, 2 DEATHS::

Summer outbreak of respiratory disease in an Australian prison due to an influenza A/Fujian/411/2002(H3N2)-like virus

L. C. YOUNG

An outbreak of influenza A occurred in a prison system in New South Wales, Australia in January 2003 during the southern hemisphere summer. This report documents only the third confirmed outbreak of influenza in a prison environment. The outbreak investigation included case ascertainment, state-wide surveillance, a case-control study and interventions to limit the outbreak such as infection control, quarantine, cohorting of cases, and the use of antiviral medication for prophylaxis. A total of 37 clinical cases were identified. Influenza A virus was detected in 11 of the 22 respiratory tract specimens collected. The virus was typed as an influenza A/Fujian/411/2002 (H3N2)-like virus. This strain subsequently became the predominant virus strain during the northern hemisphere winter and the following 2003 Australian southern hemisphere winter influenza season.

(Accepted September 29 2004)

http://journals.cambridge.org/actio...7CF82B0052.tomcat1?fromPage=online&aid=276038

 

[gsgs]

Re: ::INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC IN PRISON, USA, 2 DEATHS::

that strain caused an epidemic in USA and other countries already in
November 2003, which is unusual for flu.
Usually the peak is in February,March

So I assume it was particularly fit for summer-flu.
Or just fitter than normal flu and thus able to
overcome the seasonal barriere.

 

[Malcolm]

Re: ::INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC IN PRISON, USA, 2 DEATHS::

http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/775598.html


Two inmates' deaths probed amid flu outbreak at Chuckawalla prison

By Andy Furillo - afurillo@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Corrections officials deflected charges of medical neglect Monday in the deaths of two inmates at a prison that over the past three weeks has been ravaged by an outbreak of the flu.

Some 740 inmates have fallen ill at Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in the Southern California desert since Feb. 23, according to a spokeswoman. Officials have since halted all transfers of inmates into and out of the prison.

The wife of one of the inmates who died said other convicts told her that her husband sought medical help but was "turned away" before he succumbed to his illness last Wednesday, four days after the first inmate death.

"I believe they allowed my husband to lay there and die," said Denise Haley, who has retained a civil rights lawyer to investigate the case.

Chuckawalla spokeswoman Debbie Asuncion said the deaths of inmates inmates Michael Haley, 35, of Los Angeles County and Peter Marquez, 53, of Riverside County are under investigation.

"Anytime anyone loses a family member, they're going to be very upset," Asuncion said. "I understand that. As far as the circumstances around (Haley's) death and his illness, I can assure you that he was receiving appropriate medical care from the Chuckawalla Valley medical staff."

Prison officials have tentatively listed respiratory illness as the cause of their deaths. Autopsy results are pending.

The two inmates died after they were transported from the prison to Palo Verde Hospital in nearby Blythe.

In a telephone interview, Denise Haley said her husband had been ill since she visited him on Feb. 19. She said she spoke to him on the telephone the day he died and that he sounded "weak."

"They neglected the fact that he was getting sicker and sicker," Denise Haley said of prison officials.

Her lawyer, David Don of Phoenix, said he will investigate the case for "civil wrongs and constitutional violations."

"The family is devastated," Don said. "They want their questions answered."

Chuckawalla Valley houses more than 3,000 medium-security prisoners, almost all in open dormitories crowded to 228 percent of their designed capacities.

Asuncion said prison employees appear to have avoided the outbreak.

She said medical personnel are offering vaccines to any inmate who wants them, and that a team from the prison medical care receiver's office will visit the prison Tuesday to inoculate the staff.

Last year, the receiver's office reviewed all inmate deaths in the prison system and concluded that 66 were either "preventable" or "possibly preventable" and could be attributed to doctor errors or "systemic" failure.

Receiver J. Clark Kelso deferred comment Monday.