Rhiza Labs FluTracker Forum

Since school began three weeks ago, teachers and parents have been on high alert about the possibility of an H1N1, or swine flu, outbreak.
Sharing books and desks in crowded schools is the perfect breeding ground for a new strain of flu virus. And while health officials continue to label H1N1 a pandemic situation, local school officials say preventative measures are working to keep attendance stable.

"I'm grateful. I think we, as principals, believed that, gee whiz, we're going to see this flu cropping up in large numbers," said Brown-Barge Middle School Principal Patricia Kerrigan. "But so far, the vast majority of kids are healthy here and there has not been an increase in absenteeism." Kerrigan said her school has had only one suspected incident of swine flu this year. She said handfuls of students have reported flu-like illness and symptoms and were sent home as a precaution.

School districts and county health departments no longer count cases of H1N1, so information gathered by schools and health officials is largely anecdotal. Karen Thoennes, health coordinator for Escambia schools, said since school started there have been about 170 students in the district who reported flu-like illness. She said there has not been "clustering" of sick students at one location that would indicate an outbreak. "It's early for the flu season," she said. "But that's out of 40,000 students. So it's still certainly small numbers."

Statewide there have been about 3,000 confirmed cases of swine flu, however only people who are hospitalized are tested. Dr. John Lanza, Escambia County Health Department director, said only about 5 percent of people who have the flu are hospitalized. "For every case that is confirmed, there are 20 cases that are not confirmed," Lanza said. "There are probably hundreds of thousands of cases in Florida." He also said there's more than an 80 percent chance that people who are currently experiencing flu-like illness have swine flu. He said there is a "significant increase in flu activity" compared to this time last year.

"A year ago, we had little to no cases of influenza this time of year," Lanza said. "Statewide, about 3 percent of visits to the emergency departments are for influenza now." While 3 percent may sound low, Lanza said that number represents a much higher frequency considering that most people don't visit the doctor for flu. Officials in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties said they have been fielding more parent inquiries about swine flu. "The best thing we can do is be calm," Thoennes said. "We know that the flu spreads easily, any kind, but just treat it like you would the regular flu." Schools have been stocked with hand sanitizers and disinfectants. School workers are wiping down desks and doorknobs more frequently and reminding children of good hygiene practices. "I think it's been over sensationalized a bit," said Deanna Huggins, a mother of two. "Washing hands and getting flu shots, we already do those things." Bridgette Williams, a mother of four and self-described "germaphobe," said she thinks communication has been a helpful piece of prevention. "It's makes parents more aware to just be cautious," Williams said. "I always remind my children to have good hygiene, so we're not going to panic."
http://www.pnj.com/article/20090913/NEW ... 006/NEWS01

Try more like double that number -- about 6.5% -- and that's as of last week. It's gone up since then. Now it's closer to 8-10%.

http://www.doh.state.fl.us/DISEASE_CTRL/epi/swineflu/Reports/1.pdf

http://www.doh.state.fl.us/DISEASE_CTRL/epi/swineflu/Reports/reports.htm#1

Three weeks into the fall semester, the University of Miami has about 40 cases of flu-like illness. FIU has 28. They can't definitely call them swine flu because the Miami-Dade Health Department, following guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is not analyzing most individual cases to see if they are swine flu, regular seasonal flu or something else.

UM and FIU are part of the Health Department's ``influenza sentinel site'' program, directed to send samples from the first five cases a week of flu-like illness to the department for analysis. Five of UM's first 15 cases were identified as swine flu. FIU has no results back yet.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southfl ... 31154.html

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http://www2.highlandstoday.com/content/2009/sep/14/la-cause-of-teens-death-still-unknown/

Highlands County Public Schools / Sebring High School

SEBRING - The Highlands County Health Department has yet to receive conclusive test results that the Sebring High School student who died Friday morning was infected with the H1N1 swine flu virus.

Marquis Hamilton, 14, reportedly had flu-like symptoms and a high fever.

According to a press release from the health department, it is important to understand that even if the test results were to be positive, that this still does not mean that H1N1 swine flu was the cause of his death. It is the responsibility of the medical examiner to issue the cause of death, which is a process that will take some time.

TAMPA - Florida's colleges and universities have reported above-average rates of swine flu, but nothing like the worst-hit states of Washington and Georgia, says a survey from the American College Health Association. Florida reported more than 25 cases of the H1N1 virus per 10,000 students. But Washington's rate was 14 times higher than Florida's. Georgia's was five times higher. The voluntary survey covered Aug. 29 through Sept. 4, the second week of school at Florida's public universities. It involved 236 universities and colleges across the country, including about 10 in Florida. The association wouldn't release their names. During the first week of the fall semester at the University of South Florida, several students came to the school clinic with flu-like symptoms, said student health services director Egilda Terenzi. "We continue to see a steady flow of students with this probable diagnosis. No major upturn or downturn of caseload," Terenzi said.

Georgia universities, on the other hand, reported hundreds of cases – more than 125 per 10,000 students, or seven times the survey's national average of 18 per 10,000 students.

Atlanta's Emory University made the news last week with what was being called "Club Swine," an empty dorm set up to quarantine students with flu symptoms.

Washington reported 368 cases per 10,000, with most coming from Washington State University in the eastern Washington city of Pullman. The high numbers are hard to explain, said James C. Turner, president of the college health association. But university officials have speculated that the school's early start date, in late August, gave the H1N1 virus more time to spread.

The Florida schools that were part of the health association survey reported a total of 578 cases. Officials at USF are urging students to take precautions to keep the infection rate from jumping.

The school has placed stickers on bathroom mirrors encouraging students to wash their hands and created signs to draw attention to wall-mounted hand sanitizers across campus.

USF has is also making thermometers more available to students, especially those in residence halls.

Nationally, universities and colleges reported 7,002 cases of swine flu on their campuses, Turner said. Illnesses have been mild, with no deaths and just a handful of hospitalizations.

Overall, the state of Florida's swine flu rate of 25 per 10,000 is the eighth highest in the country, behind Washington, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina, Wisconsin and South Carolina.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/sep/14 ... -colleges/

Hillsborough students with flu symptoms must now wear masks

As the swine flu epidemic makes its way through Hillsborough County schools, the district is stepping up efforts to stop the spread of infection.

Beginning today, school nurses will place masks on middle school and high school students displaying flu-like symptoms, according to district spokesperson Linda Cobbe. The policy will go into effect at elementary schools as soon as a new shipment of masks arrive. Middle school and high school nurses were expected to pick up their supply of masks at the Velasco Student Services Center in Ybor City today.

The district is waiting for the masks for elementary students, which should arrive in the next week or so, Cobbe said

The mask is one of several steps the district is taking to contain the spread of swine flu, including a mass voicemail sent to all Hillsborough school district households over the weekend. In the message, district and health officials informed families the H1N1 vaccine would be administered in schools as soon as it is available.

Hillsborough County's Health Department is paying for the 20,000 masks – enough for about 10 percent of students.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/sep/14 ... ear-masks/

Update on the teen who died from Sebring...
SEBRING -- While the cause of death had not officially been determined, test results have shown that Marquis Hamilton, the Sebring High School freshman who died Friday morning, had H1N1 swine flu. Officials from the Highlands County Sheriff's Office.

Officials from the Highlands County Sheriff's Office have started a death investigation, but said it does not appear there will be any criminal charges of negligence.

"It's standard procedure when there is a sudden death like that and there are no previously known illnesses to the individual," said Lisa Burley, chief of staff for the HCSO. "That's how this case was. That's why he was tested for the various flu viruses."

A Friday afternoon press release from the Highlands County Health Department said Hamilton had "no reported pre-existing conditions or chronic illnesses

http://www.newssun.com/news/0916-tc-dea ... lu-sebring

School absences this fall are slightly higher than in previous years, but school officials say parents don’t need to panic.

"We’ve got kids out sick, we do, but it’s not any worse than the regular flu season," said Choctawhatchee High School Principal Cindy Gates. "I don’t feel any type of frenzy."

Over the weekend, rumors circulated that 40 to 50 members of the Choctaw band were home sick, but attendance records reveal that only 17 of the band’s 160 members were absent from school on Friday. It’s unclear how many were at band practice that afternoon, however.

Of the school’s more than 1,760 students, 215 students were absent Friday and 143 were absent Monday. Gates said it was difficult to gauge whether it was the flu or some other illness that kept them home.

Officials at other schools around the district also said they too are experiencing slightly higher-than-normal absenteeism, but said it wasn’t extraordinary.

"There’s a lot of crud going around," she said. "And I think parents are being very cautious."

Okaloosa County Health Department Director Karen Chapman confirmed Monday afternoon that several colds are circulating in the community and may cause people to experience symptoms similar to the flu. Typically, head colds are limited to the sinuses and nasal passages, but some will also cause coughs or fevers, so she advised people to consult with their physicians.

No matter the illness keeping students home, Chapman said the higher numbers of absences earlier in the school year were anticipated by health officials as they monitored the H1N1 virus over the summer. In previous years, health officials began monitoring for the flu during the first week of October, and they expect to see cases of seasonal flu intermixed with the H1N1 virus in the coming weeks.

http://www.thedestinlog.com/news/school ... ences.html

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WEST PALM BEACH, FL--The Palm Beach Gardens High School football team is being forced to cancel its game this week because so many players are ill.

The game against Royal Palm Beach was called off after almost two dozen members of the team became sick.

School officials said they're not sure if it's the swine flu.

Officials have not decided whether they'll reschedule the game at a later date.
http://www.wptv.com/content/news/northp ... dbEWw.cspx

That story was real old weeks ago.

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