San Diego County Too Many Swine Flu Cases to Keep Track

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Too Many Swine Flu Cases to Keep Track
New concerns over who in San Diego has the swine flu and why doctors are not testing most patients

By TONY SHIN
Updated 7:30 AM PDT, Fri, Oct 9, 2009


A possible swine flu outbreak at Oak Valley Middle School is raising new concerns about the virus and how it?s being tracked in San Diego County.

Health officials say only a small number of cases are being documented and for most patients, doctors don't even test for swine flu. But, they say there?s a good reason ? there are simply too many cases.

County health officials are calling the illness at Oak Valley Middle School a possible cluster for the H1N1 virus, also known as the swine flu. They also say they don't have any idea how many people in San Diego County actually have the virus.

"No jurisdiction throughout the United States knows how many people have swine flu," Dr. Wilma Wooten said.

County health officials say the H1N1 virus is too widespread now, and there just isn't enough manpower to keep track of every single case.

"So, we're only reporting those hospitalized cases and fatal cases of swine flu,"
Wooten said.

In other words, Primary Care physicians are only testing high-risk patients whose symptoms are so severe that they have to be hospitalized. Dr. Alan Richberg says it makes sense.

"Most people in the community have a good immune system most people will not get very sick from the swine flu," he said.

Still, some say health officials should at least try to keep track of as many cases as possible.

"It would be nice to know how many people are contracting the H1N1 virus," 4S Ranch resident Sharon Leon said.

Others say if we knew which areas had the most cases, less people would probably get the virus, because anyone who went into those areas would be more likely to take extra precautions.

"It's hard to tell how big the outbreak is unless they're keeping track of all the cases," 4S Ranch resident Howard Appel said.

County health officials say more than 300 people have been hospitalized so far with the H1N1 virus and 23 have died.


http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/health/Too-Many-Swine-Flu-Cases-to-Keep-Track--63849572.html

 

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Re: San Diego County Too Many Swine Flu Cases to Keep Track

?Swine flu? strikes at least three 4S Ranch sixth-graders

By Elizabeth Marie Himchak
October 14, 2009

Sixth-grade absences at Oak Valley Middle School have returned to normal levels, a week after more than a hundred students called in sick.
County health officials have confirmed that at least three students were infected with the H1N1 virus, commonly known as ?swine flu,? said Holly Crawford, a spokeswoman for the county?s Health and Human Services Agency.

On Monday, 33 sixth-graders were absent, a sharp contrast from the previous Monday (Oct. 5), when 131 ? or about 31 percent ? of the school?s 461 sixth-graders missed class. Parents of the majority of the students informed the 4S Ranch school that their children were ill, according to Sharon Raffer, Poway Unified?s spokeswoman.

By Tuesday, only two dozen were absent for various reasons, not all health related, compared to Oct. 6, when there were 103 sixth-graders absent, followed by 112 on Oct. 7 and 99 on Oct. 8, Raffer said. By Oct. 9, there were 128 sixth-graders not in class, but 21 of these were due to reasons other than illness.

?It is more absences than usual,? Raffer said. ?Usually there are about 20 kids out (of a grade on any given day) and not all are sick.?

Last week?s illnesses were blamed on an apparent flu outbreak, which prompted county health officials to open an investigation into whether any of the influenza cases were due to the H1N1 virus.

Most students had spent Sept. 28 to Oct. 2 divided between the county?s Camp Cuyamaca and Camp Fox, where the annual sixth-grade camp takes place, Raffer said, adding absenteeism typically rises slightly after camp, but not this high.

The camps have been part of the San Diego County Office of Education?s Outdoor Education program for six decades, said Jim Esterbrooks, public information officer for SDCOE.

According to Esterbrooks, 23 of the 244 campers at Camp Cuyamaca and four of 167 students at Camp Fox were sent home before the week-long session ended. Oak Valley was the only school at the camps. Esterbrooks said 23 ill campers is ?high? and four is ?a little low.?

The 4S Ranch school has 1,225 students in sixth- through eighth-grades.

Raffer said the campus was sanitized in response to the illness outbreak and custodial staffing increased. There was no spike in absenteeism among Oak Valley?s seventh- and eighth-graders.

Crawford said there was no reason to temporarily close Oak Valley.

?When we see an absentee rate of 10 percent (campus-wide), it peaks our interest,? Crawford said, adding county officials typically start talking with district officials about closing a campus when illness-related absenteeism reaches 30 percent campus wide.


http://www.mylocalnews.com/nws/inde...trikes_at_least_three_4s_ranch_sixth_graders/