Another probable swine flu case in PA

From the BCCT.

Another probable swine flu case in PA
By: JO CIAVAGLIA
Bucks County Courier Times

Pennsylvania health officials aren’t sure when they’ll receive advanced testing kits that would allow faster confirmation of suspected swine flu cases, as the number of probable cases in the state continues growing.

Health officials anticipated the first shipment would be received by Monday at the latest, but with the number of states and cases growing by the hour, the CDC is prioritizing distribution to states with confirmed swine flu cases.

Pennsylvania had no confirmed swine flu cases as of Friday, though two more suspicious cases were added Friday.

“We’re not sure when they will be coming in,” state health spokeswoman Holli Senior said Friday.

The specialized test kits allow state health officials to confirm swine flu cases without forwarding the specimens to CDC labs, which has been overwhelmed with suspected positive samples.

Meanwhile, local county officials are stepping up surveillance efforts.

The Bucks health department is requiring schools to track and forward daily absences among students and staff involving flu-like symptoms. In Montgomery County, 9-1-1 callers can expect to be asked if anyone at the caller’s location is experiencing flu-like symptoms so that first responders can take appropriate precautions if necessary.

As of Friday, Pennsylvania had six unconfirmed swine flu cases — two in Montgomery and four in Philadelphia.

At least five cases were described as mild infections and the patients have recovered or recovering, health officials said. State health officials had no details for the latest case involving a 39 year-old woman.

Those suspected cases are the only ones with unknown genetic fingerprints among more than 100 positive type A flu samples the state tested last week, state health spokeswoman Stacy Kriedeman said.

Locally, Doylestown Hospital tested at least 25 people with flu-like symptoms since Monday, and Lower Bucks Hospital in Bristol Township tested at least 22, hospital officials said. Only one Lower Bucks patient was positive, but for influenza type B, spokesman John Coffman said.

Medical and public health officials are following a three-step process for confirming a person is infected with the new swine flu, which health officials are now calling the 2009 H1N1.

If a rapid flu test is positive for type A influenza, the most common flu virus, the specimen is forwarded to the state department of health for further analysis.

Scientists then look for specific genetic fingerprints known as virus subtypes. If the subtype is unknown, swine flu is suspected and the specimen is sent to the CDC for conclusive testing, Kriedeman said.

Adding to challenges facing public health workers is the regular flu season hasn’t ended, meaning those viruses, which include a human type A H1N1 subtype, are still circulating. Also, false-positive influenza test results are more likely to occur when disease prevalence is low, which is generally at the beginning and end of the influenza season, according to the CDC.

Montgomery County officials reported a second probable swine flu case Friday involving a 28 year-old Lower Merion man who became sick on April 28. The man had not traveled in the last month and he had no known contact with ill people, according to county health officials.

The four other probable cases involve three Philadelphia residents, a 25-year-old man and 46-year-old female, and 2-year-old child and a 31-year-old Mexican man visiting Upper Merion.

The unidentified visitor, who had a valid work visa, reportedly became ill as he was traveling to the U.S. from Mexico last weekend, said Mike Baysinger, Montgomery County’s deputy director of personal health services.

The man was traveling alone and did not interact with people after he became ill, Baysinger said. He became sick on April 25, but has since completely recovered.

Probable swine flu cases are recommended to self-isolate at their homes and complete appropriate anti-viral treatment.

At least 17 U.S. states have confirmed more than 150 swine flu cases and one death, according to state and federal counts. Some scientists Friday said the virus is showing little staying power in the cities with the most cases and suggested that it may lack the genetic guts of previous killer bugs.

The identical, previously unseen flu virus has spread to at least 12 countries, though most infected were only mildly sickened. In Mexico, where the virus originated, it is suspected of sickening more than 3,000 people and killing for than 160.

The official world count for the fast-spreading 2009 H1N1 influenza, virus was almost 600 confirmed cases in 12 countries with 10 deaths, the World Health Organization said Friday, though the number is believed to be much larger.

Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at 215 949-4181 or jciavaglia@phillyBurbs.com. For more health and fitness information, visit Jo’s blog at www.phillyburbs.com/opinions/blogs/courier_blogs/jo_ciavaglia



FLU CLUES
? Human influenza virus usually refers to those subtypes that spread widely among humans. H1N1, H1N2, and H3N2 are the only known Influenza A virus subtypes currently circulating among humans.
? Influenza Type A is the most common and also the scariest of the three influenzas, causing the most serious epidemics in history. H1N1 flu strains caused roughly half of all flu infections in 2006.
? Other strains of H1N1 are endemic in pigs and birds.
? Four main influenza type A virus subtypes that have been isolated in pigs: H1N1, H1N2, H3N2, and H3N1, however most of the recently isolated influenza viruses from pigs have been H1N1 viruses.
? The H1N1 swine flu virus circulating globally now is not the same as human H1N1 viruses, meaning that the vaccines for human seasonal flu won’t provide protection from swine flu viruses. But the swine flu bug circulating does respond successfully to antiviral treatment.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention