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Article is from the Rutland Herald. Unlike other states, Vermont is very open about reporting which schools have confirmed cases. Any information that's not available in the newspaper can be obtained by having a teenage son with an active facebook account.
Article published Jun 5, 2009
More H1N1 cases confirmed
By Cristina Kumka STAFF WRITER
Three new swine flu cases in Rutland County, two of which are elementary students at the Rutland Area Christian School, were confirmed by the Vermont Department of Health Thursday.
The new cases bring the county's total number of H1N1 cases to five and 14 statewide since April when the virus first emerged in the United States.
In a news release issued late Thursday afternoon, the department declared a total of six new Vermont cases after samples submitted to and tested at the department's laboratory were confirmed positive.
The department did not say where the new cases of the airborne virus occurred ? in schools or within communities.
To date, cases have been confirmed in five different counties ? five in Chittenden County, five in Rutland County, two in Windsor County, one in Franklin County and one in Orleans County.
Rutland Area Christian School Principal Dawn Doherty said the two students with confirmed cases have been out of school for at least a week and are recovering from home after their parents sought treatment for them.
School was in session Thursday and parents were notified with individual phone calls, Doherty said.
A representative of the state health department was also at the school offering advice, she said.
Rutland City Public Schools Superintendent Mary Moran said she hadn't been notified of any additional cases at schools in the district Thursday and did not know who the third case was.
Rutland County's first two cases were Rutland High School students ? one male student who got sick while he was out of school and a female student who came into contact with the male and then went to school sick for a day to take final exams, coughing and feverish. Those cases were the first to affect Vermont teens.
The department said Thursday's increase in cases was "consistent with a steady rise in the number of test samples submitted to the health department laboratory."
The department could not be reached by press time Thursday to confirm the number of samples received.
Marketing Coordinator Joe Stuhlmueller of Rutland Regional Medical Center said statewide, testing is increasing.
The hospital set up a flu testing site where patients are referred by their primary-care physician if they exhibit symptoms consistent with swine flu.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as state swine flu experts have said children, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses or already-compromised immune systems are more vulnerable to the infection.
Stuhlmueller said parents, on the advice of hospital physicians, should not treat children of all ages the same as adults if they have swine flu and should follow the directions given by physicians for medicine dosage.
The swine flu strain has been found to be resistant to some medications and the CDC is recommending Tamiflu for children 1 year of age or older and Relenza for infected people age 5 and older.
There is no vaccine available for swine flu, but the CDC is working on developing one, according to the state department.
"We are very fortunate that the new flu circulating in Vermont is behaving much like the regular seasonal influenza and causing relatively mild illness," said Health Commissioner Wendy Davis, M.D., in the release.
"We know it's here, so we are shifting away from the focus on the case counts," she said. "We continue to ask Vermonters to take everyday actions to keep illness from spreading."
That includes staying home if you are sick and calling your health care provider, diligent hand washing and covering your mouth when coughing.
Symptoms of swine flu include sore throat, cough, body aches, extreme fatigue, chills, fever and, in some cases, nausea and vomiting. For more information, call a school nurse, visit www.healthvermont.gov or www.cdc.gov or call 211, the Vermont helpline.
cristina.kumka@rutlandherald.com
Article published Jun 5, 2009
More H1N1 cases confirmed
By Cristina Kumka STAFF WRITER
Three new swine flu cases in Rutland County, two of which are elementary students at the Rutland Area Christian School, were confirmed by the Vermont Department of Health Thursday.
The new cases bring the county's total number of H1N1 cases to five and 14 statewide since April when the virus first emerged in the United States.
In a news release issued late Thursday afternoon, the department declared a total of six new Vermont cases after samples submitted to and tested at the department's laboratory were confirmed positive.
The department did not say where the new cases of the airborne virus occurred ? in schools or within communities.
To date, cases have been confirmed in five different counties ? five in Chittenden County, five in Rutland County, two in Windsor County, one in Franklin County and one in Orleans County.
Rutland Area Christian School Principal Dawn Doherty said the two students with confirmed cases have been out of school for at least a week and are recovering from home after their parents sought treatment for them.
School was in session Thursday and parents were notified with individual phone calls, Doherty said.
A representative of the state health department was also at the school offering advice, she said.
Rutland City Public Schools Superintendent Mary Moran said she hadn't been notified of any additional cases at schools in the district Thursday and did not know who the third case was.
Rutland County's first two cases were Rutland High School students ? one male student who got sick while he was out of school and a female student who came into contact with the male and then went to school sick for a day to take final exams, coughing and feverish. Those cases were the first to affect Vermont teens.
The department said Thursday's increase in cases was "consistent with a steady rise in the number of test samples submitted to the health department laboratory."
The department could not be reached by press time Thursday to confirm the number of samples received.
Marketing Coordinator Joe Stuhlmueller of Rutland Regional Medical Center said statewide, testing is increasing.
The hospital set up a flu testing site where patients are referred by their primary-care physician if they exhibit symptoms consistent with swine flu.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as state swine flu experts have said children, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses or already-compromised immune systems are more vulnerable to the infection.
Stuhlmueller said parents, on the advice of hospital physicians, should not treat children of all ages the same as adults if they have swine flu and should follow the directions given by physicians for medicine dosage.
The swine flu strain has been found to be resistant to some medications and the CDC is recommending Tamiflu for children 1 year of age or older and Relenza for infected people age 5 and older.
There is no vaccine available for swine flu, but the CDC is working on developing one, according to the state department.
"We are very fortunate that the new flu circulating in Vermont is behaving much like the regular seasonal influenza and causing relatively mild illness," said Health Commissioner Wendy Davis, M.D., in the release.
"We know it's here, so we are shifting away from the focus on the case counts," she said. "We continue to ask Vermonters to take everyday actions to keep illness from spreading."
That includes staying home if you are sick and calling your health care provider, diligent hand washing and covering your mouth when coughing.
Symptoms of swine flu include sore throat, cough, body aches, extreme fatigue, chills, fever and, in some cases, nausea and vomiting. For more information, call a school nurse, visit www.healthvermont.gov or www.cdc.gov or call 211, the Vermont helpline.
cristina.kumka@rutlandherald.com