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If you have the flu, it's swine flu; 2 Bay teachers do
September 09, 2009 04:38:00 PM
By CHRIS SEGAL / News Herald Writer
PANAMA CITY BEACH ? Two Bay County teachers had contracted swine flu as of Wednesday, prompting phone calls to parents of children in the affected classes.
The Patronis Elementary School teachers caught the flu from their students, said Bay District Schools Superintendent Bill Husfelt.
?We are daily getting more and more cases,? Husfelt said. ?The prediction is that it is going to continue to spread, but principals are handling it well.?
Bay County Health Department Director Dr. Dennis Cookro said people are no longer being tested for swine flu; if they have flu-like symptoms, then they have H1N1.
?That?s the flu that is going around right now,? Cookro said. ?There aren?t really other strains showing up right now.?
Health officials expect cases of swine flu to increase because of the start of school, athletic events and social gatherings around holiday weekends.
A flu vaccine is expected to be available in early October and will be distributed to people in the high-risk category.
Meanwhile, there are isolation rooms set up in all schools, where students showing symptoms can be contained until they are picked up. Health officials recommend frequent washing of hands and use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers. Cough etiquette ? coughing or sneezing into a tissue, a sleeve or an elbow ? also is important, Cookro said.
The health director said Bay schools were doing a good job in educating students and preventing the spread of swine flu.
Husfelt pleaded to parents to make sure their child?s school has the most current contact information.
?There is nothing more frustrating than trying to get a hold of a parent when none of the phone numbers are up to date,? he said.
To date, 77 Floridians have died from swine flu, according to health officials.
Florida Department of Health spokeswoman Susan Smith confirmed that Florida now has widespread swine flu cases. Smith said the change in Florida?s status is not cause for alarm; she attributed it to school starting.
Health officials are urging Floridians to seek medical help if they feel sick, to wash hands frequently, practice good hygiene and to stay home if they feel ill.
Alabama is also facing an accelerating outbreak of swine flu that began about the time thousands of schoolchildren reported back to class in mid-August.
Dr. Don Williamson said more cases of swine flu are being seen in Alabama and other Southern states because students in the region have been in school for a month, while they didn't start going back to class until after Labor Day in many other parts of the country.
Williamson confirmed the fourth death from the virus in Alabama was an 18-year-old Troy University student who died Friday. He said that case points out the difficulty of containing the H1N1 virus on college campuses. He said cases of the swine flu have been reported on almost every campus in the state.
"It's not just a learning environment like a high school. It's a living environment," Williamson said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
If you have the flu, it's swine flu; 2 Bay teachers do
September 09, 2009 04:38:00 PM
By CHRIS SEGAL / News Herald Writer
PANAMA CITY BEACH ? Two Bay County teachers had contracted swine flu as of Wednesday, prompting phone calls to parents of children in the affected classes.
The Patronis Elementary School teachers caught the flu from their students, said Bay District Schools Superintendent Bill Husfelt.
?We are daily getting more and more cases,? Husfelt said. ?The prediction is that it is going to continue to spread, but principals are handling it well.?
Bay County Health Department Director Dr. Dennis Cookro said people are no longer being tested for swine flu; if they have flu-like symptoms, then they have H1N1.
?That?s the flu that is going around right now,? Cookro said. ?There aren?t really other strains showing up right now.?
Health officials expect cases of swine flu to increase because of the start of school, athletic events and social gatherings around holiday weekends.
A flu vaccine is expected to be available in early October and will be distributed to people in the high-risk category.
Meanwhile, there are isolation rooms set up in all schools, where students showing symptoms can be contained until they are picked up. Health officials recommend frequent washing of hands and use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers. Cough etiquette ? coughing or sneezing into a tissue, a sleeve or an elbow ? also is important, Cookro said.
The health director said Bay schools were doing a good job in educating students and preventing the spread of swine flu.
Husfelt pleaded to parents to make sure their child?s school has the most current contact information.
?There is nothing more frustrating than trying to get a hold of a parent when none of the phone numbers are up to date,? he said.
To date, 77 Floridians have died from swine flu, according to health officials.
Florida Department of Health spokeswoman Susan Smith confirmed that Florida now has widespread swine flu cases. Smith said the change in Florida?s status is not cause for alarm; she attributed it to school starting.
Health officials are urging Floridians to seek medical help if they feel sick, to wash hands frequently, practice good hygiene and to stay home if they feel ill.
Alabama is also facing an accelerating outbreak of swine flu that began about the time thousands of schoolchildren reported back to class in mid-August.
Dr. Don Williamson said more cases of swine flu are being seen in Alabama and other Southern states because students in the region have been in school for a month, while they didn't start going back to class until after Labor Day in many other parts of the country.
Williamson confirmed the fourth death from the virus in Alabama was an 18-year-old Troy University student who died Friday. He said that case points out the difficulty of containing the H1N1 virus on college campuses. He said cases of the swine flu have been reported on almost every campus in the state.
"It's not just a learning environment like a high school. It's a living environment," Williamson said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
