Woman first to die from swine flu in Maricopa County

A Maricopa County woman in her late 40s died from swine flu complications.

It is the first death in Arizona and the fourth nationwide as a result of the H1N1 influenza.

The woman had a chronic lung condition before she got the flu. The swine flu has now turned deadly in Arizona, but Maricopa County health officials say it will not change the way they monitor the pandemic.

Dr. Bob England, with Maricopa County, say, "Doesn’t change a thing. We knew this was coming and unfortunately …”

It brings the nationwide total to four deaths from the swine flu. Two-hundred-forty people have contracted the virus in Arizona but the rest of those cases are said to be mild.

Doctors say we need to keep things in perspective.

Dr. Sam Benjamin explains, "How many people are dying every day from not wearing seatbelts, diabetes and heart disease?"

Not to mention the 36,000 Americans who die annually from the regular flu. Now doctors statewide are calling Arizona's first swine flu death unfortunate, but not unexpected and also say it is not a sign for the public to panic.

Dr. Benjamin adds, “It's a tragedy, but people shouldn't be walking around with masks on."

The county is not releasing details about the woman who died.

49 cases of Swine Flu now reported in Arizona

State health officials say the number of confirmed cases of swine flu in Arizona is now at 49 - up from the previous figure of 17.

Arizona Department of Health spokeswoman Laura Oxley says the new confirmed cases were sent to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week and took a while to identify because of the backlog there.

Arizona has an additional 150 to 200 possible cases of swine flu at the CDC for testing and Oxley says the number of confirmed cases will certainly increase.

She says the state laboratory hopes to start testing its own cases on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, students at three Phoenix-area schools that were closed because of the swine flu returned to class Tuesday.

Moon Mountain Elementary School in northwest Phoenix was closed as of Thursday, and the Tarwater Elementary and Hartford Sylvia Encinas Elementary schools in the Chandler Unified School District were closed starting Friday. One student at each of the three schools tested positive.

All three schools were ordered closed for seven days.

Ten public schools in Nogales closed for a week, starting Monday, after one student tested positive _ even though the elementary school student had recovered before the closures were announced. Santa Cruz County health officials had recommended closing only the school the child attends and one neighboring school.

In Nogales, barber Rene Valencia said his 14-year-old eighth-grader would be having a vacation this week. While he isn't worried about his son getting into trouble or being exposed to the flu while hanging around home or with friends, Valencia said he thought school officials overreacted.

Officials with the Tucson and Marana unified districts, which each had one middle school student with a confirmed swine flu case, and on the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation, where two high school students were among four positive cases, did not close schools.

In a letter distributed Monday through Maricopa County school districts, Dr. Bob England recommended against any more school closures - barring a significant cluster of cases in a school.

He also said he was not recommending that school events such as proms, field trips or graduations be canceled.

"It appears that the virus is already broadly spread in the community,'' he said. "Therefore, a handful of individual school dismissals will not help to slow its spread.''

He added that closing all schools for a time might help but the disease doesn't seem severe enough to merit the disruptions.

SWINE FLU LINKS:

Preparedness - http://www.wearepublichealth.org

CDC web site on Swine Flu - http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/

Statewide - http://www.azdhs.gov

Maricopa County - http://www.maricopa.gov/Public_Health/

Important Swine flu links

SWINE FLU INFO LINKS:

Preparedness - http://www.wearepublichealth.org

CDC web site on Swine Flu - http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/

Statewide - http://www.azdhs.gov

Maricopa County - http://www.maricopa.gov/Public_Health/

Case Tracker Map - http://kfyi.com/cc-common/seasonal/health/sub.html?feed=104777&article=5379279

Does Arizona have enough antivirals for the flu?

Arizona's estimated 258,000 treatment courses of antivirals would cover about 4 percent of the state's population.

Public health officials say Arizona has enough courses of antiviral medicines to respond to swine flu cases, even though the state's stockpile of flu-treatment doses are lower than the recommended level.

Arizona's estimated 258,000 treatment courses of antivirals would cover about 4 percent of the state's population. State health department spokeswoman Laura Oxley said Arizona has plenty of doses and pointed out that the treatment courses are for people who are extremely ill and aren't intended as a way to prevent an infection.

The state was supplementing its 58,000 treatment courses with an estimated 200,000 from the federal government's strategic reserve. The 200,000 figure represents a quarter of Arizona's full allocation from the reserve.

State and local health officials believe they will not need to request more from the national stockpile. Officials say not everyone with the flu will need the treatment. They anticipate a drop in illnesses as regular flu season ends and summer approaches.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that each state have enough antiviral medicine on hand to treat 25 percent of its population. But a survey by The Associated Press of all 50 states and the District of Columbia found that 29 states - including Arizona - were below that mark.

So far, Arizona has had four confirmed cases of swine flu. Test results in 52 more suspected cases that were sent to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevent were expected in the coming days.

The four confirmed cases were found in school-age children in Maricopa County. The cases led to seven-day closures at three elementary schools, one in Phoenix and two in Chandler.

Public health officials in Arizona say it appears the swine flu that has spread across the nation in the past week isn't any more severe than normal influenza.

One hundred forty-one swine flu cases have been reported in 19 U.S. states. The only reported death in the U.S. as a result of swine flu was a Mexican child who was visiting Texas with his family.

Health officials said people should treat the swine flu strain like any other flu - contact your personal doctor, and avoid spreading the virus by staying home and covering sneezes and coughs. Patients should seek additional medical help if fever persists or spikes, breathing is difficult or other severe symptoms develop.

Businesses in AZ encouraged to have swine flu plan

To keep the swine flu from wiping out workforce, some companies in Arizona are allowing people to work from home while others are calling off travel.

After the bird flu and SARS diseases hit a few years ago, IBM added pandemics in its disaster contingency planning. It now knows how many people can work from home and which workers can cover for others who get sick.

The following is a federal checklist for businesses to use as they prepare for the impact of an outbreak:

-Identify a pandemic coordinator and/or team with defined roles and responsibilities

-Identify essential employees and other critical inputs required to maintain business operations by location and function during a pandemic

-Train and prepare ancillary workforce in other job titles/descriptions

-Develop and plan for scenarios likely to result in an increase or decrease in demand for your product or service

See the full list and get more information here:
http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/business/businesschecklist.html

Swine flu may be at NAU

A 19-year-old student from Northern Arizona University has a "probable case" of swine flu.

NAU and the Coconino County Health Department are waiting for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to confirm it.

Janitors have cleaned and disinfected dorms and public dining areas and those with flu-like symptoms have been given masks.

But the campus is operating as usual, especially with finals and graduation right around the corner.

Students or parents can call a 24-hour phone bank for more information. That number is 928-523-0007.

Swine flu scare hits Arizona hard

State health officials say the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed three additional cases of swine flu in Arizona.

Three school-aged children in the Chandler Unified School District have been identified as having contracted swine flu and all are recovering. None of the three required hospitalization.

In response and in accordance with CDC guidelines, Maricopa County's health director, Bob England, has decided to dismiss students from Tarwater Elementary and Hartford Sylvia Encinas Elementary School for seven calendar days. There is no known relationship between these three students. One of the cases had been home during the infectious period and could not have infected anyone in his/her school.

The cases confirmed today bring the total in the state to four.

Since Sunday, the state Department of Health Services has sent 56 flu samples to the CDC in Atlanta, and 52 are pending. It's not clear when those results are expected.

The first positive case was confirmed Wednesday in an 8-year-old northwest Phoenix boy. Although he had already recovered and returned to school, health officials ordered his school closed for a week to prevent the disease from spreading.

The swine flu virus is a new type of virus never seen in people until it was discovered last week. It is a combination of swine, avian and human influenza, and responds well when treated with anti-virals. The swine flu has the same symptoms as regular or seasonal influenza: sudden onset of high fever, runny nose, body aches and exhaustion. Some people with the swine flu have nausea and diarrhea.