Ohio Swine Flu Case Confirmed

[deminks]

Source: WLWT.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- State health officials confirmed that the swine flu has made it to Ohio.

Agents with the Ohio Department of Health announced that a 9-year-old boy from Lorain County has been diagnosed with the disease.

Doctors said the patient has a mild case of the flu and that he is recovering at home.

Because the latest combination of the influenza virus is still being analyzed, health agents are asking resident to take extra precaution against exposure.

The ODH said that as with other emerging flu strains, there is no vaccine for the swine flu yet.

Read more: http://www.wlwt.com/health/19294743/detail.html

[northzax]

1. OMG!!! some kid in Ohio has a mild case of the flu!

stop the presses.

[MercutioATC]

7. Some kid in Ohio has a mild case of a flu strain that nobody has any immunity to.

Get informed. The danger isn't that it's the flu...it's the individual strain of flu that matters.

"The flu" isn't a specific malady, it's a generic term. Most flu viruses are no big deal. This one is different.

[northzax]

13. so in 24 hours

they genetically matched this particular virus to the one in Mexico? damn, impressive that someone thought to take a kid with a mild case of the flu and test him against a strain that appeared in Mexico a week before, and did this all on a weekend in Ohio!

please. I currently have the sniffles, maybe I have swine flu as well?

[MercutioATC]

14. Actually, yes. Confirmed by the CDC.

Over the past few years, we've put together a pretty comprehensive rapid reporting system for infectious diseases in this country.

This is an example of how it works.

[readmoreoften]

17. Thank you for explaining this so patiently. /nt

[OnyxCollie]

19. BioWatch

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/terror/RL32152.html

[northzax]

32. So if it is the same strain

The one that is going to create a pandemic, why is this otherwise healthy kid alive? How many people has he infected? Why aren't his parents, siblings and classmates at death's door? How did he catch it? Was he in Mexico? Did someone else go to Mexico and give it to him? What's the vector that brought the virus from Mexico to Ohio in two days? Does that person have the flu? As you said, the CDC is very good at this, so where's this data?

And just as important...knowing this, what are you doing differently today knowing this? Still going to work tomorrow?

[MercutioATC]

36. Answers:

1) Because this virus seems to have somewhere between a 1% and 7% mortality rate. It's not Ebola, it's influenza.

2) I don't know.

3) Because, again, mortality rate is low and we don't know what contact he had with others. This bug is not airborne yet.

4,5,6,7: I believe early reports stated that his family had vacationed in Mexico recently. No other information has been released.


To answer your last question, I'm staying informed and prepared. I'm not panicking, but I realize the potential this virus has to go pandemic and I'm monitoring it.

...and yes, I'm going to work until a confirmed case is reported where I work. My son is going to school until a probable case is reported in his school. I'm going shopping and such, I'm just more aware of health protocols (handwashing, disinfecting, etc.). I have the basics stocked (disinfectant, medicines to treat symptoms, masks, etc.) should this flu spread more widely.


It's stupid to panic. It's equally stupid to disregard the possible dangers.

[OhioChick]

18. You make some very valid points. n/t

[dflprincess]

21. From the link in the OP regarding immunity:

No one has complete immunity to this strain but most of us have been exposed to A strains of influenza in the past and those of us who are old enough have not only been exposed but probably had an A strain variant (I know I have, the last time was enough to convince me that flu shots are wonderful things).

http://www.wlwt.com/health/19294743/detail.html

It's possible that people who have been exposed to flu viruses every year -- especially older people, with a greater exposure history -- may have some natural immunity, the CDC official said in a call with reporters.

also:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article6175909.ece

H1N1 flu strains similar to the one identified in Mexico circulate seasonally, and most people have some residual immunity to them. But in a process known as antigenic drift, strains of the flu virus undergo genetic changes that make it less familiar to the human immune system, even unrecognisable....

...it appears so far that only severe cases are being picked up — what we don’t know is the background of mild illnesses that are not being reported or identified. It is also a good sign that the virus appears to be vulnerable to antiviral drugs that are already stockpiled in Britain.

[Old Hob]

22. two words for you: "Spanish Influenza" eom

[northzax]

33. And a number for you: 91

As in, that was 91 years ago. Care to list the ways the world is different in that time frame?

[Old Hob]

35. Is that why the influenza virus still kills about 40,000 Americans every year?

because the world is so different today?

[northzax]

37. Of course you know

That the 40k number, the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, is actually for flu and pnemonia, and is a statistical estimate, not a gross count of actual mortality. Buy I have no reason to suspect the CDC numbers here. What I would be interested to know is how many of these people were between the age of 5 and 65, not immuno-supressed or suffering from another chronic illness or condition? I guess technically my grandfather died of pnemonia, but he really died of being 89, having a weak heart and kidneys.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. Nova Scotia now confirming 4 cases...

The flu, in general, is a PITA. Got it twice (almost back to back) last year and I can't take that kind of prolonged nightmare anymore.

[eleny]

3. I've had it a couple of times in my life and "nightmare" is the description

I can understand that people say they have "a touch of the flu" when they have a common cold. But when you've experienced the flu you know it doesn't "touch". It creeps up with a hammer and flattens you for a week.

I can't begin to imagine the misery of having it back to back. Yipes.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. It was uggggghhhhh....

Got it in the late fall of 2007 and when it finally went completely away after 6 weeks, had a couple week break, and back into it again in early 2008 (many co-workers were sick all that fall, winter, and into that last spring). :banghead: Of course that was the year when the "wrong" 3 strains were in the flu shot.

[msanthrope]

39. That's when I had it too....my flu vaccine was worthless, and I

was ill, off and on, for months.

[dysfunctional press]

23. i used to get it every couple years, until i started getting the flu shot...

i haven't had it since.

[hedgehog]

11. That's it! I want the border with Canada closed NOW!

Need I add, :sarcasm:

[MidwestTransplant]

4. does having a flu shot strengthen your resistance to swine flu? Weaken the effects?

[MercutioATC]

6. Does nothing unless the shot was tailored for this specific strain.

...and it wasn't.

[ohio2007]

5. Just like the world wide avian flu scare.

WHO is raising the fear monger level ? Guess pig flu is going to be the story of the month

[caseymoz]

29. The Avian flu is totally a real threat, not just a scare.

I realize it has been drawn out, but that strain just has to hit on the "right" mutation to spread among humans. It would have been a good bet that it would have happened by now.

WHO hasn't reported Avian Flu incidence with anything near the urgency that it has this one. It has reported two here this month, one here the next. That should tell you that WHO doesn't send out high alerts unless they are warranted.

[Algorem]

8. I feel like it's time for me to start panicing,but I don't want to go run-

ning through the streets screaming and all that.I might actually catch it ot there.So I need a webpage with instructions on how to panic while staying inside.

[eleny]

10. There's a place right here at DU...

The Lounge :evilgrin:

[GinaMaria]

12. Can I just work from home until this all blows over?

public transportation, a crowded office, sharing a restroom with 100s of others, half cubical walls... seems we're just a week away from pandemic... Seriously, what are the chances that the WHO will recommend we all work from home?

[caseymoz]

30. In two weeks, they'll probably be very forgiving if you don't come to work.

By then, I think a quarter of the people will be staying home suffering the flu, and another half of them will be calling in to work claiming to have the flu just avoid getting it.

The big problem with that is, it doesn't put food on the table. There aren't enough telecommuting jobs to cover it.

[jimnasium]

15. onoes!

we're all gonna die.

unbelievable...

[caseymoz]

31. No we're not all going to die and it isn't unbelievable.

[brentspeak]

16. This news report brought to you by the makers of Flu-Away

Flu-Away: When flu panic strikes, you'll know who was partially behind it.

[rainbow4321]

20. 2nd suspect case being looked into in Wood County n/t

[OhioChick]

24. I just heard on the local news

Another probable case in Toledo.

[FedUpWithIt All]

26. Eh, lovely.

Thanks

:hi:

[OhioChick]

28. Possible case of swine flu being investigated in Wood County

If confirmed, it would be Ohio's 2nd case, officials say

A possible swine flu case is being investigated in Wood County.

Pamela Butler, the county health commissioner, said a person who had recently traveled into Mexico from Texas reported flu-like symptoms to Wood County Hospital, and tests now are under way to determine whether that person contracted swine flu.

Ms. Butler said the Ohio Department of Health had been notified, but until the test results come back no action is planned. She said she did not know where the ill person lives.

Ms. Butler said she and other northwest Ohio health commissioners have been in steady e-mail contact to keep each other apprised of any swine-flu developments in the region.

If confirmed, it would mark the second verified case in Ohio.

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090426/NEWS16/904260270

[northzax]

34. Toledo is in Lucas County

Just pointing that out. The Maumee River is the dividing line to Wood County. Just to be precise about it.

[OhioChick]

38. I'm aware of that....

Blame the local news.

[FedUpWithIt All]

27. Thanks rainbow4321.

I live on the east side. News is appreciated.

[OhioChick]

25. Local School Closes Because Of Confirmed Case Of Swine Flu

April 26, 2009

ELYRIA, Ohio -- National, state and local health officials have advised Ely Elementary School to close its doors for a week after a 9-year-old student diagnosed with swine flu.

The boy recently traveled to Mexico on vacation with his family.

Health department spokesman Robert Jennings said Sunday the boy is recovering at his home in Elyria, in northern Ohio's Lorain County. The child's name was not released.

Jennings said the Centers for Disease Control confirmed the case and said it is the same deadly strain of swine flu that has killed up to 81 people in Mexico.

Jennings said the boy displayed typical symptoms of the flu, including a sore throat and body aches. Jennings says the child returned from Mexico within the past two weeks.

Jennings said the boy's relatives are being tested for the disease, but they currently do not have any symptoms.

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/19295122/detail.html