Earthling
05-01-2009, 09:55 AM
Swine flu is 'probable' in 5 Utahns
By Carrie A. Moore
Deseret News
Published: Thursday, April 30, 2009 11:54 p.m. MDT
Five Utahns were listed as "probable" with the swine flu virus on Thursday, the same day the LDS Church announced that new missionaries headed to Mexico will remain at Missionary Training Centers "until further notice."
Seeking to quell fears and assure the public of government readiness after word that four additional Utahns may have contracted the virus, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. told reporters Thursday that officials want Utahns "to be alert but not alarmed." The first "probable" Utah case was announced Wednesday.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced in a short statement that new missionaries assigned to serve in Mexico will remain at the Missionary Training Centers in Utah and Mexico City "until further notice," and that it has "canceled all worship services in Mexico until further notice" upon recommendation of the Mexican government.
Mexico is home to more than 1 million Latter-day Saints and 20 LDS missions.
Thursday's midday press conference at the state Capitol was called after officials in Park City closed schools Thursday morning after lengthy discussion about the fact that three students there were among the "probable" cases and their samples had been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for further testing.
"Please use common sense. We don't want hysteria to prevail," the governor said. "Everyone has lives to live, and we have a great economy in this state. We don't want a sense of overreaction."
Tom Hudachko, spokesman for the Utah Department of Health, said Utah has three "probable" cases of swine flu in Summit County, one in Salt Lake County and one in the Weber-Morgan area.
Test results are expected from the CDC, but there is no firm time estimate on when they will arrive.
Dr. David Sundwall, executive director of the Utah Department of Health, told reporters he believes school officials in Park City "erred on the side of being cautious, but I don't fault them for that decision." He said he would have preferred that the CDC not disclose the probable cases before they were confirmed, but because the federal health agency made the disclosure, Utah officials decided to announce it as well.
At this point, the virus doesn't seem to be any more serious for the vast majority of those who have it than a seasonal flu is, Sundwall said. The concern is that, because it is a new type of flu, there is no human immunity to it and no vaccine to prevent it from spreading.
The World Health Organization (WHO) raised its alert level to five out of a possible six on Wednesday, adding to worries about a virus that so far has killed only one person in the United States. The elevated WHO alert "sounds dramatic," Sundwall acknowledged, but added that designation simply means the agency has "documented person-to-person transmission within two or more countries."
While the total number of countries where the virus has been documented continues to rise, he said, "that doesn't mean the risk of serious illness is that much greater."
President Obama's declaration of a public health emergency earlier this week is simply a legal mechanism that opens the path to allocate additional money for equipment and supplies to deal with the outbreak, he said.
So far, America's more than 130 cases "have proven relatively mild," Sundwall said, adding the toddler who died in Houston had come across the border from Mexico and was already ill. "There have only been 13 hospitalizations."
Hudachko said Utahns need to understand that much of the information coming out of Mexico at this point simply is not reliable.
While some media accounts have listed the death toll there at more than 100, as of Thursday, the CDC was only reporting 26 confirmed cases and seven deaths directly attributable to the virus.
In Utah, "up to 60 samples" of flu virus from local patients have been sent to the state lab for typing, Sundwall said. It's unknown how many of those could eventually be identified as "probable" swine flu cases and sent on to the CDC for further testing.
Marceline Brown, a licensed counselor and crisis coordinator at Lakeview Hospital in Bountiful, said anxiety about the situation comes as "people talk to each other and raise the level of fear," out of proportion to the reality "because that seems more interesting to some than actually talking about what the realities are."
She hasn't seen any kind of mass fear at the hospital, or in Davis County. "I think we've only had one person come in and ask at all. ? He didn't even have a fever. This guy just wanted a week off work."
As news about the virus circulates worldwide, many Americans find themselves being more careful about hand-washing and wondering whether their plans will change or be modified by circumstance in the near future.
After the CDC issued an advisory asking Americans to delay or cancel "nonessential" travel to Mexico, two Brigham Young University students found themselves on TV because they decided to cancel their honeymoon to Puerto Vallarta.
Eliza Roisum and Bryce Kirkman told a Washington TV station they canceled the trip after WHO raised its alert level on Wednesday. "It'd be too risky to go," said Roisum, the 20-year-old bride-to-be from University Place, Wash.
Students at the University of Utah, who are taking finals this week, got an e-mail Tuesday from school officials, warning them of the outbreak and asking them to implement the same health precautions that health departments have publicized.
Spokeswoman Coralie Alder said as things progress, officials will provide additional information via e-mails, the U. home page and through the campus alert system to "make sure the U. is as ready as possible in the event we have confirmed cases in Utah."
Contributing: Wendy Leonard
E-MAIL: [email protected]
Key developments
Five "probable" cases reported in Utah.
Utah becomes one of 16 states with closed schools.
Confirmed cases in New York, Texas, California, South Carolina, Kansas, Massachusetts, Indiana, Ohio, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware, Colorado, Virginia, Georgia and Minnesota.
The World Health Organization says it will use the term "H1N1" instead of "swine flu" to avoid confusion.
Hispanic outreach
Local health officials say they're moving quickly to educate Utah's Hispanic communities on how to prevent, identify and treat the H1N1 virus.
Flu information is available in both Spanish and English by calling 211. And through Spanish newspapers, radio and television, health officials believe the Hispanic community will be ready to deal with the virus.
"I think people are aware and we're preparing for it," said Owen Quinonez, director of the Center for Multicultural Health in Salt Lake City.
By Carrie A. Moore
Deseret News
Published: Thursday, April 30, 2009 11:54 p.m. MDT
Five Utahns were listed as "probable" with the swine flu virus on Thursday, the same day the LDS Church announced that new missionaries headed to Mexico will remain at Missionary Training Centers "until further notice."
Seeking to quell fears and assure the public of government readiness after word that four additional Utahns may have contracted the virus, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. told reporters Thursday that officials want Utahns "to be alert but not alarmed." The first "probable" Utah case was announced Wednesday.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced in a short statement that new missionaries assigned to serve in Mexico will remain at the Missionary Training Centers in Utah and Mexico City "until further notice," and that it has "canceled all worship services in Mexico until further notice" upon recommendation of the Mexican government.
Mexico is home to more than 1 million Latter-day Saints and 20 LDS missions.
Thursday's midday press conference at the state Capitol was called after officials in Park City closed schools Thursday morning after lengthy discussion about the fact that three students there were among the "probable" cases and their samples had been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for further testing.
"Please use common sense. We don't want hysteria to prevail," the governor said. "Everyone has lives to live, and we have a great economy in this state. We don't want a sense of overreaction."
Tom Hudachko, spokesman for the Utah Department of Health, said Utah has three "probable" cases of swine flu in Summit County, one in Salt Lake County and one in the Weber-Morgan area.
Test results are expected from the CDC, but there is no firm time estimate on when they will arrive.
Dr. David Sundwall, executive director of the Utah Department of Health, told reporters he believes school officials in Park City "erred on the side of being cautious, but I don't fault them for that decision." He said he would have preferred that the CDC not disclose the probable cases before they were confirmed, but because the federal health agency made the disclosure, Utah officials decided to announce it as well.
At this point, the virus doesn't seem to be any more serious for the vast majority of those who have it than a seasonal flu is, Sundwall said. The concern is that, because it is a new type of flu, there is no human immunity to it and no vaccine to prevent it from spreading.
The World Health Organization (WHO) raised its alert level to five out of a possible six on Wednesday, adding to worries about a virus that so far has killed only one person in the United States. The elevated WHO alert "sounds dramatic," Sundwall acknowledged, but added that designation simply means the agency has "documented person-to-person transmission within two or more countries."
While the total number of countries where the virus has been documented continues to rise, he said, "that doesn't mean the risk of serious illness is that much greater."
President Obama's declaration of a public health emergency earlier this week is simply a legal mechanism that opens the path to allocate additional money for equipment and supplies to deal with the outbreak, he said.
So far, America's more than 130 cases "have proven relatively mild," Sundwall said, adding the toddler who died in Houston had come across the border from Mexico and was already ill. "There have only been 13 hospitalizations."
Hudachko said Utahns need to understand that much of the information coming out of Mexico at this point simply is not reliable.
While some media accounts have listed the death toll there at more than 100, as of Thursday, the CDC was only reporting 26 confirmed cases and seven deaths directly attributable to the virus.
In Utah, "up to 60 samples" of flu virus from local patients have been sent to the state lab for typing, Sundwall said. It's unknown how many of those could eventually be identified as "probable" swine flu cases and sent on to the CDC for further testing.
Marceline Brown, a licensed counselor and crisis coordinator at Lakeview Hospital in Bountiful, said anxiety about the situation comes as "people talk to each other and raise the level of fear," out of proportion to the reality "because that seems more interesting to some than actually talking about what the realities are."
She hasn't seen any kind of mass fear at the hospital, or in Davis County. "I think we've only had one person come in and ask at all. ? He didn't even have a fever. This guy just wanted a week off work."
As news about the virus circulates worldwide, many Americans find themselves being more careful about hand-washing and wondering whether their plans will change or be modified by circumstance in the near future.
After the CDC issued an advisory asking Americans to delay or cancel "nonessential" travel to Mexico, two Brigham Young University students found themselves on TV because they decided to cancel their honeymoon to Puerto Vallarta.
Eliza Roisum and Bryce Kirkman told a Washington TV station they canceled the trip after WHO raised its alert level on Wednesday. "It'd be too risky to go," said Roisum, the 20-year-old bride-to-be from University Place, Wash.
Students at the University of Utah, who are taking finals this week, got an e-mail Tuesday from school officials, warning them of the outbreak and asking them to implement the same health precautions that health departments have publicized.
Spokeswoman Coralie Alder said as things progress, officials will provide additional information via e-mails, the U. home page and through the campus alert system to "make sure the U. is as ready as possible in the event we have confirmed cases in Utah."
Contributing: Wendy Leonard
E-MAIL: [email protected]
Key developments
Five "probable" cases reported in Utah.
Utah becomes one of 16 states with closed schools.
Confirmed cases in New York, Texas, California, South Carolina, Kansas, Massachusetts, Indiana, Ohio, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware, Colorado, Virginia, Georgia and Minnesota.
The World Health Organization says it will use the term "H1N1" instead of "swine flu" to avoid confusion.
Hispanic outreach
Local health officials say they're moving quickly to educate Utah's Hispanic communities on how to prevent, identify and treat the H1N1 virus.
Flu information is available in both Spanish and English by calling 211. And through Spanish newspapers, radio and television, health officials believe the Hispanic community will be ready to deal with the virus.
"I think people are aware and we're preparing for it," said Owen Quinonez, director of the Center for Multicultural Health in Salt Lake City.