Some 2,000 sick with swine flu at WSU

[Treyfish]

<!--subtitle--><!--byline-->The Associated Press
<!--date-->Posted: 09/04/2009 08:24:20 AM PDT
<!--secondary date-->Updated: 09/04/2009 08:24:21 AM PDT



<SCRIPT language=JavaScript> var requestedWidth = 0; </SCRIPT>
<SCRIPT language=JavaScript> if(requestedWidth > 0){ document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup').style.width = requestedWidth + "px"; document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup').style.margin = "0px 0px 10px 10px"; } </SCRIPT>PULLMAN, Wash.?Washington State University officials say more than 2,000 students have been sickened by swine flu during the first two weeks of classes on the Pullman campus.
But Saturday's football game between Stanford and Washington State will go on as scheduled.
School officials say there have been no deaths and no students have required hospitalization.
Dr. Dennis Garcia says most students suffer three to five days of discomfort. The school is handing out free flu kits including a thermometer, painkillers, throat lozenges, sport drinks, hand sanitizer and tissues. ??? :tiphat:http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_13269590

 

[sekhmet]

Re: Some 2,000 sick with swine flu at WSU

My boss' son and his girlfriend both attend WSU and both have H1N1.
I work at a state U across the state from WSU that starts fall classes Sept. 23. I assume we'll be hit pretty hard.

 

[Commonground]

Re: Some 2,000 sick with swine flu at WSU

no hospitalizations. no tamiflu. Sounds good to me.

 

[Roehl_JC]

Re: Some 2,000 sick with swine flu at WSU

1st Washington teenager critical condition, 1st case in Umatilla County since late June


SWINE FLU: Umatilla County teen in critical condition
By Paula Horton, Herald staff writer
A Umatilla County teenager has tested positive for the swine flu and is in critical condition at a Washington hospital, Umatilla County Health Department officials said today.The teen, from the eastern part of the county, is being treated for other medical conditions as well, officials said.

?I am very concerned about this adolescent and want to encourage others to take the necessary precautions to protect themselves from both seasonal and H1N1 influenza,? said Genni Lehnert, Umatilla County Health Department administrator.

It?s the sixth confirmed swine flue case in the county. Five cases were reported in the spring, but the last one was June 29, she said.




http://www.tri-cityherald.com/945/story/704606.html

 

[Evelyn]

Re: Some 2,000 sick with swine flu at WSU

I have to admit that when I read the first post I almost couldn't believe it. Two thousand? Reported by the AP as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world?

I guess it's getting more ordinary. Alas.

Here's another article:

http://gazetteonline.com/blogs/news-hawk/2009/09/04/in-2-weeks-over-2000-sick-with-h1n1-flu-at-washington-state-university

In 2 weeks, over 2,000 sick with H1N1 flu at Washington State University
Posted on Sep 04, 2009 by John McGlothlen.

PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) — Washington State University officials say more than 2,000 students have been sickened by swine flu during the first two weeks of classes on the Pullman campus, though none have required hospitalization, according to WSU Health and Wellness Services.

Saturday’s football game between Stanford and Washington State will go on as scheduled.

“Public health officials believe that attending the game and sitting in the stadium poses almost no risk to attendees,” WSU said.

“We’ll have hand sanitizers at all concession stands,” said Bill Stevens, a spokesman for the football team, adding that 13 WSU players have shown flu symptoms at some point.

Dr. Dennis Garcia of WSU said most students suffer three to five days of discomfort. The school is handing out free flu kits including a thermometer, painkillers, throat lozenges, sport drinks, hand sanitizer and tissues.

According to a WSU web site, it is not clear if the number of students with flu has peaked. There were 158 patient contacts on Wednesday, about consistent with other days since school started in late August.

“There is no evidence to predict whether patient flow will increase or decrease,” WSU said on its web site.

Normally, the school would see only a handful of patients with influenza-like illness.

School officials said they don’t know how many students might have sought care outside the student health system, or how many are caring for themselves without contacting authorities.

In accordance with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control, WSU is no longer testing patients to confirm swine flu infection, and is only testing high-risk patients for type A influenza. If a patient tests positive for type A flu, it is assumed they have H1N1 and are treated accordingly.

In adults, warning signs that need medical attention include: difficulty breathing; pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen; sudden dizziness; confusion; severe or persistent vomiting.

WSU officials are awaiting the arrival of 500 more doses of seasonal flu vaccine. “At this time we are focusing on our student patients and are not providing flu vaccine for WSU employees,” the school said.

The WSU Web site to which the original article links (http://hws.wsu.edu/blog/default.asp?Username=healthycoug&EntryID=134) is not the university's main page, and it isn't readily accessible from the main page. A small-type link on the main WSU page ("What's New: H1N1 flu updates") leads to a page titled "H1N1 (Swine) Flu Guidance Home Page," where you can access an official message to the university community that hasn't been updated for a week. University operations status is listed as normal, and there are no WSU Emergency Alerts. I can't decide whether this is crazy or reasonable; I do know it feels surreal.

 

[Evelyn]

Re: Some 2,000 sick with swine flu at WSU

I looked back at a previous thread about WSU: http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?p=287688. It took just over a week to go from 50 students reporting flu-like symptoms to the current 2000-odd. Does anyone know of an outbreak this large at another university?

 

[somebodyoutthere]

Re: Some 2,000 sick with swine flu at WSU

Here's what I believe - WSU is using a very low threshold to count cases. Sounds like they are counting anyone who called in reporting flu-like symptoms. I don't think other schools are setting the bar quite so low. I also think that after a certain number, other schools have stopped reporting to prevent "panic" (e.g., I've read NOTHING about Univ. of Kansas since they surpassed 300 cases). Even WSU should be well over 2000 by now - it's been several days since that report first came out.

I'm very frustrated with the variations in reporting. I live in a county that has a university and I PERSONALLY know of at least one confirmed case (tested positive for Influenza A but doctor told him he has "regular flu" ), and I know there have been other positive "Influenza A" cases - yet only ONE case has been reported in the entire county comprised of a population of 35,000+ people. In my opinion, people need to be explicitly informed that this flu is indeed in their midst to knock them out of their complacency!!

 

[tropical]

Re: Some 2,000 sick with swine flu at WSU

#7:
"Sounds like they are counting anyone who called in reporting flu-like symptoms."

#1:
"But Saturday's football game between Stanford and Washington State will go on as scheduled.
School officials say there have been no deaths and no students have required hospitalization.
Dr. Dennis Garcia says most students suffer three to five days of discomfort."



The perfect illness spreading vectors

 

[hawkeye]

Re: Some 2,000 sick with swine flu at WSU

WSU official: Swine flu outbreak may be easing
Originally published Monday, September 7, 2009 at 11:35 AM
A health official at Washington State University says the school's swine flu outbreak may be tapering off.

The Associated Press
PULLMAN, Wash. ?

A health official at Washington State University says the school's swine flu outbreak may be tapering off.

Dr. Dennis Garcia says 40 to 50 students a day contacted the health service at the Pullman campus this weekend to report flu symptoms, well under the approximately 150 a day last week. Garcia notes many students are home for the Labor Day weekend, but there still are signs the outbreak may have peaked.

To date, about 2,200 students have contacted the health service, and Garcia says another 1,000 also may have gotten sick. Based on federal estimates, he says about one-third or about 5,000 of the Pullman students can be expected to come down with the bug.

None of the students required hospitalization. Sick students are being told to stay home and rest until the illness runs its course.

 

[somebodyoutthere]

Re: Some 2,000 sick with swine flu at WSU

It is kind of surprising that with that many cases, none have required hospitalization.

 

[Hogweed]

Re: Some 2,000 sick with swine flu at WSU

It is kind of surprising that with that many cases, none have required hospitalization.

I'm with you on this. My guess is the number with swine flu is probably much closer to 200 than 2000. Currently in the UK only about 10% of those in the UK seeing a doctor with flu-like symptoms actually test positive. For US Region X (AK, ID, OR, WA)) that figure is currently 20% and it really wouldn't surprise me if it was 10% or lower at WSU (if anybody is actually testing).

 

[sbrooks]

Re: Some 2,000 sick with swine flu at WSU

I remember what it was like to be in college, and if I could have got days
excused for calling in sick and reporting symptoms I may have done it.
So I don't really trust the number, that that many students actually have it.

 

[tropical]

Re: Some 2,000 sick with swine flu at WSU

I'm with you on this. My guess is the number with swine flu is probably much closer to 200 than 2000. Currently in the UK only about 10% of those in the UK seeing a doctor with flu-like symptoms actually test positive. For US Region X (AK, ID, OR, WA)) that figure is currently 20% and it really wouldn't surprise me if it was 10% or lower at WSU (if anybody is actually testing).

Is it established WHAT illness have the remaining 80-90%?

Could we reasonably believe that in the northern regions where seasonal flu in the summer doesn't practicaly exist,
now when it is well established that at least 3 months UK have the pandemic flu, and US 4 months,
there are 80-90% other "seasonal flus" out of their seasonal schedule,
or that there are "viroses"/"viral illness" capable of making 80-90% infected,
or that all these folks, or a mainly part, "simulate" the illness?

All the above is hard to believe.

Also, it must be seen from which data it is stated that only 10% of the tested are positive.

But much easier to believe is that,
of 100% claimed illnessed, many not going to the doctor because of light symptoms (as now wroted here), so they than can make only a call (be signed as ill), remain in a dorm, or go home.
Generaly, the meds didn't take tests from all of them, only a part,
or few members of a close group/class, to spare tests -> said every 5th? -> 100%/5=20% realy tested(?),
and if they use fast tests on this part, because they haven't heavy symptoms, up to 50% of the result could be false negative,
plus the possible not deep enaugh nose swabs taken -> 50% of 20% = 10% positive results.

And they finaly probably get out with official data of 10-20% positive tests, which maybe with the above premises, will not corespond to the reality of the situation.

So, maybe we could based on the above speculation also that there are X x10 positive folks, and than we could came to the initial 100%, or in this case 2000 claiming flu symptoms.

Extrapolations from possible initial false measurings, how streching you are ...

 

[Evelyn]

Re: Some 2,000 sick with swine flu at WSU

I'm with you on this. My guess is the number with swine flu is probably much closer to 200 than 2000. Currently in the UK only about 10% of those in the UK seeing a doctor with flu-like symptoms actually test positive. For US Region X (AK, ID, OR, WA)) that figure is currently 20% and it really wouldn't surprise me if it was 10% or lower at WSU (if anybody is actually testing).

Like Tropical, I would be surprised if only 10% or so of students reporting ILI had H1N1. The Region X figure is a broad average and does not necessarily represent the % positive in a cluster of illness. I've seen no suggestion that the students can get medical excuses for absence by calling in. As far as I know, medical excuses require an actual physical exam--that's why the administrators of many colleges and universities are asking professors not to demand medical excuse notes. I'm sure that some people at WSU are calling or visiting the health center out of worry more than illness. There are also always people who get sick but can't be bothered to contact the health center. The real figure may not be 2000 H1N1 cases, but I doubt it's anywhere near 200. My two cents.

 

[Hogweed]

Re: Some 2,000 sick with swine flu at WSU

Is it established WHAT illness have the remaining 80-90%?

Typically in the UK anyway nothing other than typical colds, coughs and sniffles that most of these same people would not normally go to a doctor with. Once people around them start getting infected with actual flu then everyone with a cough seeks medical advice, the apparent rate surges and then calms down.

I hope I am wrong as the smaller the actual infected numbers, the higher the actual CFR.

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Some 2,000 sick with swine flu at WSU

Swine flu strikes Washington State Univiversity at start of school year


Associated Press Writer

5:31 p.m. EDT, September 8, 2009


SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) ? Washington State University is in the midst of a swine flu outbreak since classes started last month, with 2,500 people contacting student health to report flu-like symptoms and officials handing out flu kits around campus.

The number of cases of suspected swine flu dropped dramatically as students left campus over the Labor Day weekend, but school officials were closely watching the numbers Tuesday to see if this would rise as students returned.

Attendance at Saturday's football game against Stanford was down, likely because of publicity about the flu, and the school took precautions that included placing hand sanitizer at concession stands. Coach Paul Wulff said 16 players have come down with cases of flu at different times, and top receiver Daniel Blackledge missed practice Tuesday because of the flu.

Officials have distributed about 200 free flu kits, including a thermometer, painkillers, throat lozenges, sport drinks, hand sanitizer and tissues. Some students wore surgical masks around campus, but most were taking it in stride.

"The students are taking it like any other type of flu," said 21-year-old Molly Aigner, whose boyfriend came down with the flu. "It's not like we're growing tails or anything."

There have been no deaths or even hospitalizations from the cases at WSU, a school with an enrollment of about 18,000 in Pullman. About a dozen patients with nausea and vomiting have required hydration, the school said.

Officials at Washington State, and at other colleges around the nation, have been anticipating large numbers of flu cases this fall because swine flu targets young people and thrives in the tight living quarters common on college campuses, said Paula Adams, community coordinator for WSU Health and Wellness Services.

Washington State started classes on Aug. 24, much earlier than most schools, and thus its outbreak has been getting more attention, Adams said. Other colleges across the country are seeing spikes in the number of suspected cases of swine flu as dorms fill up and classes begin.

Federal health officials say they have been girding for a spike in cases as schools and colleges came back into session in August and September. "Some colleges have already seen upticks but the majority of colleges haven't," Dr. Anne Schuchat of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at a briefing Tuesday.

Based on federal guidelines, WSU is assuming everyone who calls with flu-like symptoms has swine flu, as there would be only a handful of normal flu cases this time of year, Adams said. "To see hundreds if not thousands of people is unusual," she said.

Anyone who calls Health and Wellness to report flu-like symptoms is counted as a swine flu case. People who call are advised to stay home, treat symptoms and drink fluids.

Dr. Dennis Garcia, senior associate director of Health and Wellness Services, said federal estimates would indicate that some 5,000 WSU students might eventually come down with the bug.

The number of flu contacts dropped sharply on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, as thousands of students headed home for the holiday. A total of 64 people contacted WSU Health and Wellness Services those three days, compared with 146 who contacted the office on Friday alone.

The state expects additional outbreaks at colleges, workplaces and other gathering places this fall, said Tim Church of the state Department of Health. The state's largest college, the University of Washington, does not begin classes until the end of the month.

The school district in Pullman is already seeing a higher rate of absenteeism, suggesting it is spreading to the larger population, said Fran Martin, director of Whitman County Public Health.

Compared with other types of influenza, the swine flu, or H1N1 strain, is relatively mild, Garcia said. He said most students suffer three to five days of discomfort, such as fever, congestion, sore throat and fatigue.

http://www.courant.com/news/nationw...us-washington-state-swine-flu,0,2583736.story

 

[Commonground]

Re: Some 2,000 sick with swine flu at WSU

The number of cases of suspected swine flu dropped dramatically as students left campus over the Labor Day weekend, but school officials were closely watching the numbers Tuesday to see if this would rise as students returned.

I would be interested in the attendance when classes resume. How many have returned?

 

[Evelyn]

Re: Some 2,000 sick with swine flu at WSU

I would be interested in the attendance when classes resume. How many have returned?

I'd be curious to know that too. I looked at the student newspaper online, which didn't tell me how many students were back, but did contain the following article:

http://www.dailyevergreen.com/story/29318

WSU addresses inflated swine flu numbers
Dominick Bonny

The Daily Evergreen

Published: 09/09/2009

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Last Monday, Washington State University officials identified a handful of students suspected of having H1N1, commonly known as swine flu. By Friday, that number had swelled to 2,000.

As a media blitz ensued, WSU officials offered another explanation Tuesday for the increase in cases.

"We started tracking not just patients who saw a physician," said Paula Adams, a spokeswoman for WSU Health and Wellness Services, "but also people who came in (and people who) talked to a phone nurse."

In fact, of the 2,500 students who showed flu symptoms as of Tuesday, only 500 were seen by medical professionals, Adams said.

However, she said that because this is not the normal flu season, most of the people exhibiting flu symptoms probably do have H1N1. But she said they've ceased confirming each individual case.

Type A influenza (H1N1) is a subtype of the influenza virus A, also known as the seasonal flu, which is the more common type of the virus.

Adams said it is important to realize that not all 2,500 people who are said to have flu symptoms are sick at the same time, though.

"Many of those people are now well and back in class," Adams said.

Meanwhile, HWS is following Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines regarding the H1N1 virus.

Across the country, other schools such as Emory University and Virginia College are dealing with the H1N1 outbreak by setting up special quarantine dorms to house students suffering from the illness.

WSU spokesman James Tinney said the university has no such plan.

"We don't have a dorm to move people who are ill," Tinney said. "Our residence halls are pretty much full."
When H1N1 first broke, officials in the U.S., Mexico, Japan and Germany closed some schools for several weeks.

Ken Vreeland, special assistant to the provost, said it would be highly unlikely that WSU would close and that setting up a quarantine dorm would be very unlikely as well.

"The best course of action the university is taking is to self-isolate students as best they can," Vreeland said.

In a letter from the president's office on Aug. 27, WSU President Elson S. Floyd and Provost Warwick Bayly asked students who have flu-like symptoms to stay home for at least 24 hours after their symptoms cease.

In the letter, Floyd and Bayly also stated, "written excuses from health care personnel should not be required" for students to miss class.

This is because campus health care professionals are dealing with an increased number of students suffering from the flu, Vreeland said. He said if students have a problem with an instructor, they should consult academic rule 104, which outlines the procedure for filing a complaint against an instructor.

"The last thing we want to do is have (health care professionals) spend their time providing excuses for administrative stuff, when what they really need to be focused on is treating and preventing illness," Vreeland said.

FURTHERMORE

Health and Wellness officials advise students who are suffering from flu symptoms to stay home for 24 hours after the fever has abated and don't come in for testing. They also said to seek medical attention if you are suffering from these symptoms:
– Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
– Sudden dizziness
– Confusion
– Severe or persistent vomiting

It's interesting that WSU is now making an effort to make the outbreak sound smaller. Only 500 of the 2500 patients were seen by a doctor--fine. This doesn't come as a surprise, based on what I've read in their flu blog and what they've been reporting all along. It doesn't change my opinion that a relatively high proportion of the students reporting ILI have H1N1. I agree completely, Hogweed, that public attention to flu does cause an increased number of people with cold symptoms to see or call a doctor. I still don't think that cases like this constitute the vast majority of ILI cases at WSU.

 

[Evelyn]

Re: Some 2,000 sick with swine flu at WSU

An editorial from the WSU student paper on the "triviality" of pandemic H1N1:

http://www.dailyevergreen.com/story/29267

Aporkalypse now: Don’t believe the H1N1 hype
Numbers don’t convey triviality of H1N1
Justin Rastelli

The Daily Evergreen

Published: 09/08/2009


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For months, H1N1 headlines have been splashed across the front pages of newspapers, capturing the attention of the talking heads and filling the airwaves with the voices of self-righteous talk show hosts.

Even White House officials have been caught up in the hoopla, releasing a study on Aug. 24, which claims H1N1 could potentially cause 30,000 to 90,000 deaths in the U.S. in the coming flu season. That’s a number the Center for Disease Control spokesman Tom Skinner quickly pointed out as being for “planning purposes only” and not one the CDC considers likely.

Within the same White House report are statistics from countries in the southern hemisphere, which are currently in their flu season. In Australia, there has been 20,000 confirmed cases of H1N1, only 110 of which have ended up in intensive care units. That is barely half of 1 percent, and that is without considering the innumerable amount of cases that have gone without confirmation.

As of Aug. 23, World Health Organization records bring the total number of global H1N1 deaths to more than 2,000. Now compare that with the 255,000 people who died from asthma in 2005, and you will start wondering why H1N1 still dominates the headlines.

This overreaction is a result of the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918, which globally killed between 20 to 40 million people. Fearing the recurrence of such a devastating disease, governments around the world have responded to each new disease as if it were the big one.

In 1976, a different strain of H1N1 killed one soldier and hospitalized four others at Fort Dix in New Jersey. Immediately, President Gerald Ford began a campaign to “inoculate every man, woman and child” against this new flu. As it turns out, the only casualty of this disease was the soldier who died and – in fact – more people were killed as a result of the vaccine.

In 1997, there was Avian Flu. In 2003, there was SARS followed by the always-present West Nile Virus. If the media had its way, we would have been wiped out at least a dozen times by now.

Every report about the disease made a point in saying that young children, pregnant women, the elderly and the immune-impaired are especially vulnerable to infection. But these are the same people who are already worried about being sick. The common cold is potentially devastating to this group of people, but you don’t see headlines that read, “2,000 people have cold symptoms” because that just isn’t alarming enough.

This scare has caused us to resort to treating everyone as if they were in grade school again. WSU administration officials sent out numerous notices reminding us to wash our hands, “practice respiratory etiquette,” and my personal favorite, “maintaining a 6-foot-space away from others when you have to interact with them.” Good luck walking down the Glenn Terrell Mall.

I can almost imagine Health and Wellness Services standing on the mall and handing out six-foot-long wooden poles, surgical masks and hand sanitizers to keep the sick at bay.

It is time to realize that the majority of students are going to be sick this year. Living in these tight conditions, elbow to elbow with your roommate, it is impossible to avoid. When it does happen, take care of your friends because this probably will be one of the worst illnesses any of us have had in a while, so look after one another.

For the majority of H1N1 patients, it will be nothing more than a bad flu. But if you are really worried about it, I have good news. There is an entire continent devoid of H1N1. Just be sure to pack a parka – Antarctica can get a little chilly.

 

[Hogweed]

Re: Some 2,000 sick with swine flu at WSU

"In Australia, there has been 20,000 confirmed cases of H1N1, only 110 of which have ended up in intensive care units. That is barely half of 1 percent, and that is without considering the innumerable amount of cases that have gone without confirmation."

Eh? There have now been 162 deaths out of about 35,000 cases. Perhaps the writer doesn't find a death rate of almost 0.5% of confirmed cases worrying either.

On top of that swine flu hasn't touched much more than a very small percentage of the Australian population yet. Meanwhile the worldwide human population swine viral load continues to increase like clockwork at around 4% per day (my guestimate) and it probably won't peak for a few months yet - and then we will see just how mild it is. One gigantic wave with the smaller regional outbreaks just superimposed tiny waves on top. Without a vaccine it will get the Australians in larger numbers later as the worldwide ili rate continues to build slowly but surely. It took until about March 1919 for it to really start killing in Australia in large numbers.

Tick-tock. Tick-tock.