Miami-Dade County Officials Change Swine Flu Testing Policies

Filed under: Swine Flu Epidemic - 14 May 2009  | Spread the word !

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When swine flu first started to attract attention in the United States and around the world, Miami-Dade county made a decision to enforce a very strict swine flu testing policy. When a person exhibited any symptoms of a flu virus or met a single piece of general criteria (such as recently returning from a trip to Mexico), Miami-Dade county mandated that they be tested for the swine flu virus. However, on Friday, health officials in Miami-Dade county announced that they were making a change in this policy.

Instead of testing this wide variety of individuals, the county will instead only test patients admitted to a hospital with swine flu symptoms, or individuals that fall into a group of interest. According to officials, groups of interest include nursing home residents, health care workers, children or college students (given that one of the likeliest places for a swine flu outbreak to take place is a college compass, due to the close living and daily proximity that students have to each other).

When asked why Miami-Dade county had made the decision to change their swine flu testing policy, Dr. Fermin Leguen (who is the chief epidemiologist of the Florida Department of Health) gave this response:

“Our labs have already tested 1,000 samples from all age groups; this is enough information for the Florida Department of Health to characterize the epidemic in Miami.”

Currently, there have been two confirmed cases of the swine flu virus in Miami-Dade county, as well as three more probable cases, which is why it is still important for Miami-Dade county residents to continue practicing good hygiene such as washing their hands on a regular basis.

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US Government Advises Schools Impacted by Swine Flu to Reopen

Filed under: Swine Flu Epidemic - 14 May 2009  | Spread the word !

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Over the course of the last one to two weeks, over seven hundred schools around the United States have closed in response to the swine flu virus. In some cases, schools closed after multiple students begin to exhibit signs of the swine flu virus. In other cases, the closings were a precautionary measure to reduce the chances of an outbreak occurring among a large group of students (since it is common knowledge that during the regular flu season each year, schools are one of the places with the highest probability of spreading a virus between a large group of people).

However, even though schools all over the country had closed their doors in fear of the swine flu virus, the US government announced today that it is time for them to reopen their doors. Originally, the US government had recommended that schools around the country should be closed. According to Dr. Richard Besser, acting head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, now that the US government has had more time to evaluate the situation, they have concluded that closure is no longer warranted. He stated that while “We had a situation where we did not know very much about Mexico … we didn’t know nearly as much about virus transmission in this country,” now that they have been able to look into the issue more, they feel that “Anyone that closed their school based on our previous recommendation, we no longer believe that closure is warranted.”

It is important to note that it is recommended that any student who gets sick from the swine flu virus should «strong»stay home for a minimum of one week«/strong».

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Five Cases of Swine Flu Have Been Confirmed in the State of Florida

Filed under: Swine Flu Epidemic - 04 May 2009  | Spread the word !

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Florida Counties

Joining the list of states like California and Texas, it has now been confirmed that Florida has multiple cases of swine flu throughout the state. As of today, there have been five confirmed cases of the swine flu virus in this state.

The five confirmed cases are spread across four different Florida counties, including Broward, Lee (which has two confirmed cases), Orange and Pinellas. The breakdown of the five cases are as follows:

  • Seven year old male (Lee County)
  • Eleven year old male (Lee County; attends the same elementary school as the seven year old male)
  • Fourteen year old female (Broward County)
  • Seventeen year old female (Orange County; visiting from Mexico)
  • Twenty-four year old male (Pinellas County)

In addition to the five cases that have been confirmed, health officials in Florida have announced that there are least another fifteen cases that have been classified as probable cases of swine flu.

As a result of the growing number of confirmed and probable cases of swine flu throughout the state of Florida, the state officially declared a public health emergency on Friday of last week.

Because four of the five confirmed cases have occured in children, many Florida schools are making the decision to temporarily close their doors, including three schools in Hillsborough County (which does not have any confirmed cases yet, but has at least five probable cases of the flu virus).

If you need any other information about the current state of swine flu in the state of Florida, you can call the toll-free state hot line which has been setup for this specific purpose: 1-800-342-3557. The hotline will be accepting calls between 8AM and 8PM each day.

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Educate Yourself About Swine Flu

Filed under: Swine Flu Epidemic  -    Pinned  | Spread the word !

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What is Swine Flu?

Swine flu is a type A influenza virus (the other main variants of the type A influenza virus are bird flu, human flu, horse flu and dog flu). In normal situations, swine flu is passed from one pig to another. However, although it is not common, it is possible for swine flu to be passed from a pig to a human. Once the swine flu virus has been passed from a pig to a human, the virus can also be passed from one human to another.

What are the Signs and Symptoms of Swine Flu?

Because swine flu is a type A influenza virus, the signs and symptoms of the swine flu virus are similar to those of the human flu. The common early signs and symptoms of the swine flu virus are: body aches, chills, cough, fatigue, fever, headache and sore throat.

Although it is advised the children and adults visit their medical provider as soon as they begin to exhibit any of these signs or symptoms, there are additional signs or symptoms that signify that immediate medical care is required:

In children, the signs and symptoms which signify the need for immediate medical care are: bluish skin color, irritability to the point of a child refusing to be held, fever combined with a rash, difficulty breathing (or faster than normal breathing), failure to drink enough fluids, an improvement in the primary flu symptoms listed above (only to have the symptoms return with a worsened cough and fever) or a failure to interact and/or wake up.

In adults, the signs and symptoms which signify the need for immediate medical care are: confusion, a sudden onset of dizziness, trouble breathing (or a shortness of breath), severe vomiting that persists or pressure and/or pain in the abdomen or chest.

Can You Get the Swine Flu Virus from Eating Pork or Pork Products?

No, this common misconception is not true. It is safe to eat or handle pork or pork products that have been prepared properly.

There are only three ways that a human can get the swine flu virus. The first is by coming in contact with a pig that has the swine flu virus. The second is by coming in contact with a human that has the swine flu virus (common methods of human to human transmission of this virus are coughing and sneezing. The third is by touching an object or surface that has been exposed to the swine flu virus (research has shown that different bacteria and viruses can live on surfaces outside of the body for two hours or longer), and then exposing your body to the virus (such as by touching your mouth or nose).

Is the Swine Flu Virus Fatal?

Although it is not common, there is the possibility of dying from the swine flu virus. For example, in 1976, there was an outbreak of swine flu in Fort Dix, New Jersey. Out of over two hundred people who were infected with the swine flu virus, there was only one reported death.

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