June 7, 2009
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Swine flu could be on the rise in Rockland[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]
Jane Lerner
jlerner@lohud.com [/FONT]RAMAPO - Schools throughout Rockland are seeing a rise in the number of students out sick with flulike symptoms, and health officials suspect that many of those children have the swine flu, a disease that has been fairly mild as it spreads through the region.
The total number of confirmed cases of the illness in Rockland remains at eight, according to the state Department of Health.
But the real number of people ill with the virus is probably much higher, officials said.
"We know that the H1N1 flu virus is widespread in the county," said Kathleen Henry, deputy director of the Rockland Department of Health.
The county will not disclose any information about the confirmed cases - including where those people live, officials said.
The state Department of Health, which conducts the testing, gives that information to the county and leaves it up to the local officials to release it. According to the state department, officials are not permitted to give out information that would enable patients to be identified, such as an individual's name or a street address.
But there is nothing in state regulations that would prevent officials from disclosing what town or community a person lives in as long as that information would not enable the person to be identified, a spokeswoman said.
Swine flu is being reported throughout the state. There were 930 confirmed cases as of Friday, according to the state Department of Health.
Two children in Mahopac last week became the first people in Putnam County with the illness.
There have been 36 confirmed cases in Westchester, including residents of Yonkers, Port Chester, Scarsdale, Rye, Tarrytown and New Rochelle.
Suffern pediatrician Janice Montague said she started to see an unusually high number of young patients with fever, sore throat, runny nose, body ache and cough early last week.
"It's very unusual to see this many sick kids with the same symptoms in June," she said. "It's really something you expect to see in February."
Many of those youngsters tested positive for Type A influenza, she said.
Once a patient tests positive for Type A influenza, also known as seasonal flu, health officials notify the county Department of Health, which will then decide whether to send a sample to the state Department of Health to determine if the H1N1 virus is the cause, said Deborah Wells, director of laboratory services for Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern.
Because swine flu is a type of influenza, people infected with it can test positive for more common, seasonal strains of flu. The hospital is seeing an increase in patients with influenza, she said.
Most of those cases are not sent to the state for testing to determine if it is swine flu, the hospital said.
Swine flu and regular Type A influenza are treated the same way - bed rest and anti-viral medications, including Tamiflu.
"The majority of cases are not serious, and patients are being treated the same as if it were seasonal flu," Henry said.
Rockland school districts are reporting higher-than-normal numbers of students out sick.
"It's a moderate increase," said Ira Oustatcher, superintendent of the East Ramapo school district. "The reports we are getting is that it is a mild illness."
Nyack Middle School has been particularly hard hit. Its absence rate is about 2 1/2 times normal, district spokeswoman Gail Fleur said.
In a note sent home with students Friday, the district assured parents that it "continues to take this matter very seriously" and is "using vigorous daily sanitizing methods to clean the buildings."
Nyack resident Barbara Berasi said her fifth-grade daughter came home from elementary school Thursday evening and developed a fever of 103 degrees, along with body aches.
"It's obviously some kind of flu," she said. "I don't know if it's swine flu or not."
Several North Rockland schools are seeing more students absent than usual, said Anne O'Toole Schulman, health services facilitator.
No schools have shut down because of the illness.
The Rockland Department of Health is not recommending schools or businesses close because "this cannot prevent the spread of this disease, since it is communitywide," officials said in a statement Friday.
Schools are being advised to close only if "the levels of faculty and student absenteeism interfere with the school's ability to function," the statement said.
Most people who develop the illness are sick for three to five days, health officials said.
"People recover quickly," Montague said. "It's really not as bad as the seasonal flu."
http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090607/NEWS03/906070360&template=printart
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Swine flu could be on the rise in Rockland[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]
Jane Lerner
jlerner@lohud.com [/FONT]RAMAPO - Schools throughout Rockland are seeing a rise in the number of students out sick with flulike symptoms, and health officials suspect that many of those children have the swine flu, a disease that has been fairly mild as it spreads through the region.
The total number of confirmed cases of the illness in Rockland remains at eight, according to the state Department of Health.
But the real number of people ill with the virus is probably much higher, officials said.
"We know that the H1N1 flu virus is widespread in the county," said Kathleen Henry, deputy director of the Rockland Department of Health.
The county will not disclose any information about the confirmed cases - including where those people live, officials said.
The state Department of Health, which conducts the testing, gives that information to the county and leaves it up to the local officials to release it. According to the state department, officials are not permitted to give out information that would enable patients to be identified, such as an individual's name or a street address.
But there is nothing in state regulations that would prevent officials from disclosing what town or community a person lives in as long as that information would not enable the person to be identified, a spokeswoman said.
Swine flu is being reported throughout the state. There were 930 confirmed cases as of Friday, according to the state Department of Health.
Two children in Mahopac last week became the first people in Putnam County with the illness.
There have been 36 confirmed cases in Westchester, including residents of Yonkers, Port Chester, Scarsdale, Rye, Tarrytown and New Rochelle.
Suffern pediatrician Janice Montague said she started to see an unusually high number of young patients with fever, sore throat, runny nose, body ache and cough early last week.
"It's very unusual to see this many sick kids with the same symptoms in June," she said. "It's really something you expect to see in February."
Many of those youngsters tested positive for Type A influenza, she said.
Once a patient tests positive for Type A influenza, also known as seasonal flu, health officials notify the county Department of Health, which will then decide whether to send a sample to the state Department of Health to determine if the H1N1 virus is the cause, said Deborah Wells, director of laboratory services for Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern.
Because swine flu is a type of influenza, people infected with it can test positive for more common, seasonal strains of flu. The hospital is seeing an increase in patients with influenza, she said.
Most of those cases are not sent to the state for testing to determine if it is swine flu, the hospital said.
Swine flu and regular Type A influenza are treated the same way - bed rest and anti-viral medications, including Tamiflu.
"The majority of cases are not serious, and patients are being treated the same as if it were seasonal flu," Henry said.
Rockland school districts are reporting higher-than-normal numbers of students out sick.
"It's a moderate increase," said Ira Oustatcher, superintendent of the East Ramapo school district. "The reports we are getting is that it is a mild illness."
Nyack Middle School has been particularly hard hit. Its absence rate is about 2 1/2 times normal, district spokeswoman Gail Fleur said.
In a note sent home with students Friday, the district assured parents that it "continues to take this matter very seriously" and is "using vigorous daily sanitizing methods to clean the buildings."
Nyack resident Barbara Berasi said her fifth-grade daughter came home from elementary school Thursday evening and developed a fever of 103 degrees, along with body aches.
"It's obviously some kind of flu," she said. "I don't know if it's swine flu or not."
Several North Rockland schools are seeing more students absent than usual, said Anne O'Toole Schulman, health services facilitator.
No schools have shut down because of the illness.
The Rockland Department of Health is not recommending schools or businesses close because "this cannot prevent the spread of this disease, since it is communitywide," officials said in a statement Friday.
Schools are being advised to close only if "the levels of faculty and student absenteeism interfere with the school's ability to function," the statement said.
Most people who develop the illness are sick for three to five days, health officials said.
"People recover quickly," Montague said. "It's really not as bad as the seasonal flu."
http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090607/NEWS03/906070360&template=printart