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Praemonitus, Praemunitus..Forewarned is Forearmed.

Flu on the rise across Maryland

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Praemonitus, Praemunitus..Forewarned is Forearmed.

Three-Day Pandemic Flu Exercise Planned by DHMH
Participants include public and private Maryland health care partners
Department of Health & Mental Hygiene News Release


BALTIMORE, MD (May 2, 2011) -- A three-day exercise to test Maryland's ability to respond to an influenza pandemic in coordination with the State's health care partners begins on Tuesday, May 3, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) announced today. This planned exercise will involve simulated emergencies at multiple locations across Maryland, as well as virtual "table top" activities and will involve every county statewide.

"Statewide exercises are important to helping us test the public health system's capability to respond to such an emergency," said Frances Phillips, DHMH Deputy Secretary for Public Health Services. "We expect to do well in some areas and learn valuable lessons to help us do better in the future."

DHMH has coordinated a multi-jurisdictional functional exercise to test pandemic flu priorities and activities. State and local health departments, hospitals, health care providers, schools, as well as private businesses and community organizations will participate in numerous locations across the state.
Priority areas to be tested include:

•Communications

•Mass Prophylaxis (Preventive medicines)

•Emergency Operations Center Management

•Critical Resource Logistics and Distribution

•Emergency Public Information and Warning

•Medical Supplies Management and Distribution

http://www.dhmh.state.md.us/pressreleas ... 0211a.html

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Weekly reports (no comment on Tamiflu resistance)

http://www.marylandfluwatch.org/weekly- ... ly-reports

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Orioles outfielder Nick Markakis was not in Wednesday's starting lineup against the Mariners and wasn't at Camden Yards at all, as the right fielder is dealing with a flu-like virus that sidelined him for the first time this season.

Markakis went to visit his wife, Christina, who was hospitalized with the illness after Tuesday's game, and he came down with the sickness himself.

"I told him to text me and keep me up to speed on what was going on with her," manager Buck Showalter said prior to Wednesday's game. "The next thing I know Nicky got it during the night, and he was pretty sick. I talked to him about an hour ago and he starting to feel better. But it is a highly contagious thing. So the doctors feel he should stay home."

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd ... Id=rss_bal

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RF Nick Markakis sat out Wednesday with the flu but returned Thursday. SS J.J. Hardy was activated off the disabled list, and reliever Josh Rupe was dropped.

Key stat: Markakis has recorded a hit in 151 consecutive series, the longest such streak in the majors, dating to a May 2008 blanking by the Rays.

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/baseball ... es/1169345

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After missing Wednesday's game with what he called a "stomach virus," Baltimore right fielder Nick Markakis was in Thursday's starting lineup against the Mariners.

Markakis went 0-for-5 in the Orioles' 2-1 win in 12 innings as the Baltimore swept the three-game set.

"I couldn't hold anything down," Markakis said. "Now, I'm eating and drinking and feel fine. I woke up [Thursday] morning and felt sort of weak. But I've been eating and moving around and feel fine now."

http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/news/a ... l&c_id=bal

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Montgomery County hospitals are seeing an increase in patients with flu-like symptoms as the number of influenza cases across the state and the country rises and health officials gear up for a flu season that could be the one of the worst in a decade.

The flu is spreading earlier and faster than usual in the Washington, DC, region this year, The Washington Post reported, and Maryland is experiencing widespread cases.

In Maryland so far this season, 2,362 have tested positive for the flu, according to The Baltimore Sun. But since many patients are treated for flu-like symptoms without being tested, the number is likely much higher, said Mary Anderson, a spokeswoman for the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services.

The strain infecting people this year tends to be associated with more severe symptoms, The Baltimore Sun reported.

At Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, 23 patients have been hospitalized with the flu, and all but two of them were admitted after Dec. 15, according to hospital spokeswoman Ronna Borenstein-Levy. Some 143 had been hospitalized with the illness as of Dec. 29 across the state, according to the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygeine.

County emergency rooms have been busy in recent days treating patients with the flu and those with gastrointestinal and respiratory illnesses, Borenstein-Levy said.

At Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, about 30 extra patients a day are visiting the emergency room, many of them complaining of flu-like symptoms, said hospital spokeswoman Jennifer Plaia.

Across Maryland, flu-related emergency room visits total 8,332 so far this year, according to the Sun.

With several months still left in the flu season, doctors are encouraging residents to get vaccinated.

“I believe with the early upswing in cases and the type of strain that we are seeing, this is definitely gearing up to be a bad year," Dr. Andrea Dugas, an emergency room physician at Johns Hopkins Hospital, told The Sun.
http://potomac.patch.com/articles/count ... u-patients

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Md. reports 1st pediatric flu-related death
Friday January 18, 2013 6:30 PM
BALTIMORE (AP) — State health officials say the season's first pediatric flu-related death has been confirmed in Maryland.

The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reported Friday that a Baltimore-area child who died in December tested positive for influenza. Officials say the child had an underlying health condition, but gave no other details.

Only pediatric influenza-related deaths are required to be reported to the department.



http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/ape ... yland.html

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