Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 148, Ed. 1 Sunday, May 10, 2009 Page: 11 of 18
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Sunday Focus “
Sweetwater Reporter _ Sunday, May ,0 ^
Swine flu not as severe as anticipated
• Still need for good hygiene
In the early phase of this outbreak,
It was appropriate for schools and
health officials to act cautiously.
Within the last 24 hours, the new
information made it clear that we
can follow standard procedures for
dealing with the flu.”
ROBERT SCOn.
COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION
IN AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO SCHOOL OFFICIALS TUESDAY
BY KIMBERLY GRAY
Corresponding Reporter
Although the numbers of
confirmed swine flu cases con-
tinue to increase in the state,
as well as in the entire nation,
health officials now believe
that this flu strain is not as
severe as they had feared.
Linda Kite, spokesperson
for the Sweetwater Nolan
County Health Department,
said that is what they are hear-
ing from health officials. In
fact, this past week their
required daily conferences on
the tlu gradually tapered off.
In addition, Kite said they are
no longer burning up the road
between Sweetwater and
Lubbock to take flu samples
for testing.
Currently there is still only
one highly probable case in
Nolan County and four cases
pending testing. Grant
Madden, emergency manage-
ment coordinator for
Sweetwater, said that the man
that likely has the illness is
doing better, and his family is
also doing fine.
Madden added that the
health department and local
health officials have worked
very well together, making
things turn out well so far for
Sweetwater and Nolan
avoiding close contact with
people whenever possible, as
well as practicing good
hygiene.
In the States, where the
death toll has been minimal,
and even hospitalizations have
been low, schools are expected
to return to normal functions
Monday. Sweetwater ISD
Superintendent Terry Pittman
said schools were originally
instructed to close if a case
was confirmed that affected a
student or person working at
the school. The Texas
Education Agency (TEA)
reports that by Tuesday,
almost 500,000 students in
the State of Texas had missed
was found that this new strain
has two genes from flu viruses
that usually circulate in pigs in
Europe and Asia, as well as
avian genes and human genes.
The CDC says that scientists
are now calling this virus a
“quadruple reassortant” virus.
Just the plain swine flu
caused enough alarm because
there has only been one or two
human cases every two years
and only a dozen or so in the
last four years, presenting
uncharted waters to health
officials.
According to the CDC, pigs
get the flu seasonally just like
humans and can pass the virus
to humans. Obviously people
Although there lias not been a confirmed case of HIM in Nolan f ounts set (ssith one
highly probable case still ssaiting results), local health officials urge people to practice
good hygiene, including regular hand washing. T his is especially important if you work
ssith the public.
County.
Even stores in Mexico City,
where the outbreak began,
opened back up for business
Thursday with the number of
deaths decreasing. It is still a
mystery as to svhy there were
more deaths in Mexico related
to the ssvine flu than anywhere
else. NPR news reported that
Mexico had 42 deaths, and the
only other two deaths in the
world were the two in Texas -
one being a Mexico City boy
with underlying health prob-
lems.
The other Texas death was
that of a 33-year-old pregnant
South Texas woman from
Cameron County who also had
“chronic underlying health
conditions," according to the
Texas Department of State
Health Services. According to
news reports, her baby was
delivered by C-section while
she was in a coma because of
the illness, and she never
recovered.
NPR News reported that
Mexican health officials
believe that since the outbreak
of the virus started in their
country, people had the virus
longer before getting treated,
and by the time they sought
medical attention, it was too
late for some. Other attribut-
ing factors include many
schools without bathrooms
and running water.
One Mexican health official
said that although Mexico has
a government-run healthcare
system, many people are not
covered under that system and
could not afford care. The
news report stated that most
of the deaths were people
under the age of 40, many of
whom tried to fight the dis-
ease on their own with over-
the-counter medication. There
were also more women who
died of the illness than men.
Although schools and busi-
nesses in Mexico are opening
back up, the government is
still urging its citizens to con-
tinue wearing face masks and
school because of the closure
of 831 schools. Even schools
as close as Merkel and Trent
have closed due to fear of
probable cases. Now things
have changed.
“We strongly encourage
school officials to reopen
schools based on the new
advice from the CDC," stated
Commissioner of Education
Robert Scott on Tuesday. “In
the early phase of this out-
break, it was appropriate for
schools and health officials to
act cautiously. Within the last
24 hours, the new information
made it clear that we can fol-
low standard procedures for
dealing with the flu.”
Pittman said they will still
consider closing if a case
comes up, but with the pre-
cautions they are taking with
cleaning, educating people on
how to deal with the situation,
and with warmer weather on
the horizon, closing school
“will not be automatic.
UIL activities will also
resume on Monday, and
Pittman said Sweetwater LSD
will look at resuming field
trips and such at that time.
Pittman added that the TEA
has not made a ruling on how
and if the days missed by
schools w ill be made up. Many
schools were in the middle of
TAKS testing when they had to
close and will resume testing
once they reopen.
The reason for much of the
alarm can possibly be attrib-
uted to the fact that this strain
of flu is rare and not much is
known about it, especially
when it comes to how it affects
human beings.
The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC)
is now calling this influenza
virus the novel H1N1 flu. It
was originally called swine flu
because laboratory testing
showed that many of the genes
in the virus compared to genes
in flu viruses normally found
in North American pigs.
However, after further study it
who worked with pigs are
more likely to become infected
with the swine flu. Then
humans can pass it on to one
another, just like they are with
this particular mixed strain.
The outbreak began in
Mexico in April and then
spread to the United States,
starting in southern California
and South Texas in Guadalupe
County.
As of Friday morning, there
were 93 confirmed cases in
Texas and 1,639 cases nation-
wide in 43 states, according to
the CDC and TDSHS. So far,
the Texas counties that are
affected include Bexar,
Brazoria, Cameron, Collin,
Comal, Dallas, Denton, El
Paso, Fort Bend, Guadalupe,
Harris, Hidalgo, Johnson,
Matagorda, Montgomery,
Nueces, Starr, Tarrant and
Travis.
The TDSHS says that almost
all the people in Texas with
confirmed H1N1 flu have had
sudden onset of fever with half
of them having over 102
degrees temperature. Most
also had a cough and sore
throat.
The organization points out
that illnesses with a lot of
nasal congestion and mild
fever and illnesses with diar-
rhea and vomiting are proba-
bly not H1N1 flu, but some
confirmed cases have had
such symptoms. Other symp-
toms may include runny nose,
body aches, headache, chills
and fatigue.
Severe symptoms you might
look for in children include:
• Fast breathing or trouble
breathing
• Bluish or gray skin color
• Not drinking enough fluids
• Severe or persistent vomit
ing
• Not waking up or not
interacting
• Being so irritable that the
child does not want to be held
• Flu-like symptoms
improve hut then return with
fever and worse cough
Health officials are now saying that this current flu strain, which contains, swine, avian
and human genes, is not as severe as they thought it might become. Schools functions are
expected to go hack to normal Monday, and businesses and schools in Mexico, where the
outbreak began, have reopened as well. However, if you are sick, it is important to stay
home in order to contain the virus, which has infected over 1.6011 people in the I .S. in
about two weeks.
Emergency warning signs in
adults include:
• Difficulty breathing or
shortness of breath
• Pain or pressure in the
chest or abdomen
• Sudden dizziness
• Confusion
• Severe or persistent vomit-
ing
• Flu-like symptoms
improve but then return with
fever and worse cough.
People can infect others
before they even show symp-
toms and are contagious for
seven more days after they
become sick.
In addition, most people
with confirmed cases in Texas
have recovered at home in a
few days.
H1N1 flu spreads the same
way as the regular seasonal
flu, through respiratory
droplets in coughs and
sneezes. That is why health
officials urge people to avoid
close contact with others in
public and to practice good
hygiene.
You cannot get this new
strain of flu by eating pork.
Kite talked about how
important it was for people
who handled money all day to
clean their hands regularly,
especially if they go from han-
dling money to handling food.
This is something, though,
that she says is a good practice
at all times to avoid passing on
any illness to others or getting
sick yourself.
The regular flu hospitalizes
200.000 people a year, and
36.000 people die of flu-relat-
ed causes even year.
The CDC says to wash your
hands frequently with soap
and warm water to avoid get-
ting infected with the flu or
use hand sanitizer. When
washing your hands, with
soap and water, do so for 15 to
20 seconds. It soap and water
is not available, you can use
the alcohol-based hand sani-
tizer. Rub your hands with the
gel until they are dry.
Washing hands is important
because the flu virus can live
two to eight hours on a surface
after being deposited there,
like on a doorknob.
Wash bed linens and towels
with laundry soap and warm
water if an infected person has
used them. Wash eating uten-
sils in warm water or in the
dishwasher.
In addition, try to avoid
touching your eyes, nose or
mouth and stay away from
people who are sick. Getting
plenty of sleep, exercising reg-
ularly, managing stress,
drinking plenty of fluids and
eating nutritious foods also
helps your body fight off ill-
ness.
It is also important to cover
your mouth and nose when
you sneeze or cough to avoid
spreading germs to others.
In order to keep your home
clean if you or someone you
live with has the flu, keep all
surfaces clean with a disinfec-
tant. Bedside tables, surfaces
in the bathroom and kitchen
counters are especially in need
of attention. Keep toys clean il
you have children.
If you think you might have
the flu, stay home from work
or school and errands as to
avoid passing on the illness.
Most people have recovered at
home with the virus. However,
if you have chronic health con-
ditions, it may be wise to see a
physician. Antiviral drugs
have helped with this strain of
the flu and can be prescribed
by a doctor.
Although the disease isn't
considered severe at this time,
it is still unknown how severe
it can be, especially for those
considered at high risk of seri-
ous flu-related sickness.
Those at high risk include
people who are 65 tears and
older, children younger than
five years old, pregnant
women and anyone with
chronic health problems.
Examples of chronic health
conditions that can be exacer-
bated by the flu include asth-
ma, and problems with the
heart, liver, blood, nervous
system, muscular system or
metabolic disorders such as
diabetes.
Children ages 6 months to
18 years who are receiving
long-term aspirin therapy
might be at risk for experienc-
ing Reye syndrome after an
influenza virus infection. In
fact, if your child has flu
symptoms, the CDC says to
not give them aspirin or
aspirin-containing medica-
tions because of the possibility
of Reye syndrome, which is a
rare but very serious and
potentially fatal condition that
can cause organ failure.
Although this flu strain is
not as severe as once thought,
health officials are still moni-
toring things. The CDC works
closely with state and local
officials where cases of the
infection have been identified.
Epi Aid teams have been
deployed in California and
Texas and many epidemiolog-
ical activities are taking place
in areas where there is infec-
tion.
Those activities include sur-
veillance in the counties
where infections have been
identified, studies of health-
care workers who were
exposed to infected patients,
studies of households and
other contacts of people who
were infected, study of public
high schools where confirmed
cases have occurred and study
to see how long a person with
the virus sheds the virus.
Currently there is no vac-
cine for this strain of flu, but
Kite said the local health
department has vaccines for
the regular seasonal flu still
av ailable to those who want to
protect themselves from sea-
sonal flu only . The peak of flu
season is usually between
October and March.
For updates on the H1N1 flu
and confirmed cases, you can
log onto v\ w : dt go\ or
www.texasflu.org-
The llu virus spreads through respirators droplets in
coughs and snee/es and can be deposited onto surfaces
where it can live from two to 8 hours, Chat is vvhv il is
important to cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough
and wash hands frequently.
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Rodriguez, Tatiana. Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 148, Ed. 1 Sunday, May 10, 2009, newspaper, May 10, 2009; Sweetwater, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth561301/m1/11/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sweetwater/Nolan County City-County Library.