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Source: http://www.thesunnews.com/news/local/story/1075901.html
News - Local
Friday, Sep. 18, 2009
SC reports 1st swine flu-associated death
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Authorities say a South Carolina child who already had serious health issues has died after contracting swine flu.
The Department of Health and Environmental Control said Monday the death is the first associated with novel H1N1 flu in the state. Officials have confirmed more than 500 cases of swine flu since it was first reported in South Carolina in April.
Authorities say the child died last week from complications associated with the illness. Officials would not release the name or say where the child lived, other than to say in central South Carolina.The Department of Health and Environmental Control said Monday the death is the first associated with novel H1N1 flu in the state. Officials have confirmed more than 500 cases of swine flu since it was first reported in South Carolina in April.
Two men are in critical condition with complications from swine flu in a Georgetown County hospital, and the state reported Monday that a Midlands child was the first in South Carolina to die of the disease, putting people on heightened alert.
Local schools, which have started classes in the past few weeks, say they are serious about preventing the spread of swine flu.
More than 500 cases of the swine flu have been confirmed in the state since the disease was first reported in April.
Horry County Schools has seen a 1 percent increase in absences because students and staff are exhibiting influenza-like illness, but there's no immediate cause for alarm about a swine flu outbreak, a district health official said at Monday's school board meeting at Aynor High School.
An average of 34.5 students were sent home from each school with influenza-like illness last week and an average of 78.2 students were absent, said Tammy Trulove, coordinator of health and safety for the district. As for staff, an average of 0.5 people were sent home because of having the influenza-like illness and an average of 8.75 stayed home.
The average attendance overall for the school district is normally 96 percent, but it's dipped to 95 percent, Trulove said.
Vaccinations seen as best flu defense
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Tuesday that a massive school closing wouldn't stop the spread of the swine flu virus, saying vaccinations must be the defense against a menace that one report said could infect up to half of the population.
A report by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology said that while the impact of H1N1 was impossible to predict, a "plausible scenario" is that the epidemic could "produce infection of 30-50 percent of the U.S. population this fall and winter, with symptoms in approximately 20-40 percent of the population (60-120 million people), more than half of whom would seek medical attention."
"What we know is that we have the virus right now traveling around the United States," Sebelius said.
Student health care and swine flu dominated the discussion at the Georgetown County Board of Education meeting Tuesday.
Recent headlines about the H1N1 flu strain inspired a dentist with offices in Murrells Inlet and Georgetown to donate more than 300 2-liter bottles of hand sanitizer to the Georgetown County School District.
"I'm a parent. I have three boys in Georgetown County Schools, and I know how easily germs spread," said Dr. John Miller of Pawleys Island. "For me, it was just, 'Why don't we do something?' Every little bit has the potential to help."
Authorities say the child died last week from complications associated with the illness. Officials would not release the name or say where the child lived, other than to say in central South Carolina.
The Department of Health and Environmental Control said Monday the death is the first associated with novel H1N1 flu in the state. Officials have confirmed more than 500 cases of swine flu since it was first reported in South Carolina in April.
News - Local
Friday, Sep. 18, 2009
SC reports 1st swine flu-associated death
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Authorities say a South Carolina child who already had serious health issues has died after contracting swine flu.
The Department of Health and Environmental Control said Monday the death is the first associated with novel H1N1 flu in the state. Officials have confirmed more than 500 cases of swine flu since it was first reported in South Carolina in April.
Authorities say the child died last week from complications associated with the illness. Officials would not release the name or say where the child lived, other than to say in central South Carolina.The Department of Health and Environmental Control said Monday the death is the first associated with novel H1N1 flu in the state. Officials have confirmed more than 500 cases of swine flu since it was first reported in South Carolina in April.
Two men are in critical condition with complications from swine flu in a Georgetown County hospital, and the state reported Monday that a Midlands child was the first in South Carolina to die of the disease, putting people on heightened alert.
Local schools, which have started classes in the past few weeks, say they are serious about preventing the spread of swine flu.
More than 500 cases of the swine flu have been confirmed in the state since the disease was first reported in April.
Horry County Schools has seen a 1 percent increase in absences because students and staff are exhibiting influenza-like illness, but there's no immediate cause for alarm about a swine flu outbreak, a district health official said at Monday's school board meeting at Aynor High School.
An average of 34.5 students were sent home from each school with influenza-like illness last week and an average of 78.2 students were absent, said Tammy Trulove, coordinator of health and safety for the district. As for staff, an average of 0.5 people were sent home because of having the influenza-like illness and an average of 8.75 stayed home.
The average attendance overall for the school district is normally 96 percent, but it's dipped to 95 percent, Trulove said.
Vaccinations seen as best flu defense
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Tuesday that a massive school closing wouldn't stop the spread of the swine flu virus, saying vaccinations must be the defense against a menace that one report said could infect up to half of the population.
A report by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology said that while the impact of H1N1 was impossible to predict, a "plausible scenario" is that the epidemic could "produce infection of 30-50 percent of the U.S. population this fall and winter, with symptoms in approximately 20-40 percent of the population (60-120 million people), more than half of whom would seek medical attention."
"What we know is that we have the virus right now traveling around the United States," Sebelius said.
Student health care and swine flu dominated the discussion at the Georgetown County Board of Education meeting Tuesday.
Recent headlines about the H1N1 flu strain inspired a dentist with offices in Murrells Inlet and Georgetown to donate more than 300 2-liter bottles of hand sanitizer to the Georgetown County School District.
"I'm a parent. I have three boys in Georgetown County Schools, and I know how easily germs spread," said Dr. John Miller of Pawleys Island. "For me, it was just, 'Why don't we do something?' Every little bit has the potential to help."
Authorities say the child died last week from complications associated with the illness. Officials would not release the name or say where the child lived, other than to say in central South Carolina.
The Department of Health and Environmental Control said Monday the death is the first associated with novel H1N1 flu in the state. Officials have confirmed more than 500 cases of swine flu since it was first reported in South Carolina in April.