Oneida County: 3 more deaths bring total there to 5

[Roehl_JC]

UTICA ? .Three more deaths have been attributed to H1N1, or swine flu, bringing the Oneida County total up to five, the Oneida County Health Department announced today.
All three recently reported deaths were adults. One died in October while the others died this week.

?Regrettably, we must report that two more adult deaths resulting from complications of the H1N1 virus have been confirmed and reported to the Oneida County Health Department, and that a previous death that occurred in October is now being regarded as a suspect case of H1N1-related death,? said Dr. Daniel W. Gilmore, acting county health director.

Earlier this week, the county announced that a second county resident who had contracted the virus had died from complications of the infection. The individual was identified as an adult with an underlying medical condition that attributed to his or her death.

In July, a county adolescent with an underlying medical condition, died at University Hospital in Syracuse, officials said.

Between Aug. 30 and Oct. 31, more than 17,800 people nationwide were hospitalized with confirmed influenza-like symptoms, and 672 of those have died, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The county held an open immunization clinic for at-risk target groups Wednesday which was attended by about 600 people.

Health officials are reminding the public to cover all sneezes and coughs using a tissue or the crook of the arm, avoid persons with flu-like illness, to stay home from work and school if you experience flu-like illness and to remain home for 24 hours after a fever has subsided without the use of fever reducing medications.

http://www.uticaod.com/breaking/x1158539867/Swine-flu-blamed-for-three-more-Oneida-County-deaths

 

[kiwibird]

Re: 3 more Oneida County deaths bring total there to 5

Re: 3 more Oneida County deaths bring total there to 5

Latest flu deaths ?unique?

By EMERSON CLARRIDGE
Observer-Dispatch
Posted Nov 13, 2009 @ 01:02 PM
Last update Nov 13, 2009 @ 08:34 PM
UTICA ?

Authorities expect a surge of residents to seek swine flu vaccinations in coming days after officials reported Friday two healthy Oneida County adults died this week of the virus and a third person who died last month is now believed to have had H1N1.

Five Oneida County residents now have died of swine flu since July, when an adolescent with an underlying medical condition became the first county resident to die of the virus that has killed about 5,000 people nationwide.

Most of those who have died have been either elderly or young. That the three Oneida County residents who died of complications of the virus this week were healthy adults was unusual, officials said.

?That?s what makes it somewhat unique,? said Ken Fanelli, a spokesman for the county Health Department.

Officials declined to release details on the age, gender or exact date of death for any of the swine flu victims they have confirmed.

About 600 people attended a county open immunization clinic for at-risk groups Wednesday, though the county had 1,500 available doses, Fanelli said.

Local hospital officials Friday said emergency room physicians had seen a recent up tick in patients treated for flu-like symptoms. At St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Utica, volume was up 30 percent during the first week of this month, said Catherine Hanover, the medical center?s vice president of marketing, public relations and government affairs, in a statement.

?This week, the volume seems to have leveled off somewhat,? she said.

Faxton-St. Luke?s Healthcare doctors have seen a similar spike in patients, said spokeswoman Debra Altdoerffer.

Officials from both hospitals, as well as Rome Memorial Hospital, discuss influenza patient trends in a weekly conference call with county health officials that began in the spring, she said.

The hospitals have restricted visitors to healthy adults in an attempt to limit the spread of the virus.

Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente said hand sanitizer dispensers had been installed in all county buildings.

?Providing vaccine, as soon as availability allows, to the public at risk, through health care providers and to area hospitals is our first priority,? he said in a statement.

Health officials have provided several safety tips to help prevent the spread of the virus:

* Cover all sneezes and coughs by using a tissue or the crook of the arm.

* Avoid persons with flu-like illness.

* Thoroughly wash hands.

* Stay home from work and school if they experience flu-like illness.

* Remain home for 24 hours after a fever has subsided without the use of fever reducing medications.
http://www.uticaod.com/breaking/x1158539867/Swine-flu-blamed-for-three-more-Oneida-County-deaths