The number of confirmed cases of swine flu in Nebraska remained unchanged at three Monday, but the state's chief medical officer said she's treating the eight cases awaiting confirmation as the "real dea
JEAN ORTIZ / The Associated Press | Posted: Monday, May 4, 2009 12:00 am
OMAHA - The number of confirmed cases of swine flu in Nebraska remained unchanged at three Monday, but the state's chief medical officer said she's treating the eight cases awaiting confirmation as the "real deal."
If true, that could bump the number of cases in the state to double digits this week, and join much more populated states that have spent days in double-digit territory, including California, Arizona, Texas and New York.
The eight specimens were sent in recent days to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which is matching about 99 percent of what it tests to the outbreak, Dr. Joann Schaefer said. No new probable cases were reported Monday.
"We're taking these probables pretty seriously," said Schaefer, Nebraska's chief medical officer. "We should treat them as confirmed."
The CDC has been inundated with specimens from across the country, which has slowed what was a 24-hour wait for results to several days, she said.
Specimens coming into the state's lab for preliminary testing have also slowed, dropping from Friday's peak of 31 to just five Monday. Schaefer said the weekend - and closed doctors' offices - slowed things down, but she expected the pace to pick back up.
The state lab in Omaha tests for probable cases and then sends them to the CDC for confirmation. Schaefer said she hoped that by the end of this week the state lab would have the test kits to confirm the results locally.
Previously confirmed cases include a Sarpy County woman in her 50s who had traveled to Mexico recently and had to be hospitalized. She has since been released.
The virus also sickened a California man in his 40s who was visiting the Omaha area. Officials believe he was exposed to the virus in the San Diego area, where he lives. He remains in Nebraska, Schaefer said Monday.
The other confirmed case is that of a 19-year-old Missouri man, although officials haven't said how he was exposed to the virus. He remains hospitalized in an Omaha-area hospital for a previous condition.
All three are doing well, Schaefer said.
The outbreak prompted some schools to close Monday. Gering Public Schools didn't plan to reopen until Thursday after administrators learned a local student was among those with a probable case of the flu strain, Superintendent Don Hague said.
The closures will keep the 2,150 students in the district in class for the year through May 21, Hague said. They were supposed to get out May 19.
Norfolk Middle School also was closed Monday as a precaution, while Washington Elementary was to be closed Monday and Tuesday, Superintendent Marlene Uhing said.
Seven of the eight probable cases are children between the ages of 5 and 18.
So far, only the Sarpy County woman's case will count as a Nebraska confirmed case, said CDC spokeswoman Karen Hunter. Cases are tracked by state of residence and not where someone was diagnosed, she added.
Hunter attributed discrepancies in the CDC's counting and statements about how it would count cases to the newness and confusion of the outbreak.
Symptoms of the illness include a fever of more than 100 degrees, body aches, coughing, a sore throat, respiratory congestion and, in some cases, vomiting and diarrhea.
The virus can be treated with anti-flu drugs, which lessen symptoms if taken within 48 hours of the first signs of illness. But there is no vaccine that prevents this new strain - a mix of pig, human and bird viruses to which people presumably have little natural immunity.
Schaefer urged those needing to fill a prescription for the anti-flu drugs to use a pharmacy and to watch out for fraudulent doses sold on the Internet.
State health officials recommend that only those moderately or seriously ill seek medical treatment to prevent a strain on hospitals and doctors. They've also emphasized taking commonsense precautions such as frequent hand washing, covering coughs and staying home at the earliest signs of illness.
Associated Press Writer Timberly Ross contributed to this report.