Boy, 7, Is San Diego's 4th Case of Swine Flu
Swine flu is a respiratory illness that normally affects pigs, and only rarely spreads to humans, but in these recent cases the CDC says the patients had no direct contact with pigs.
County health officials say a young boy is recovering from a case of swine flu. The illness has sickened more than 900 in Mexico, killing 60.
Three other cases of swine flu have been diagnosed in San Diego. The other confirmed cases include a 10-year-old boy, a 54-year-old man and his 16-year-old daughter. Two more people got sick in Imperial County, as did two teenagers from the same school near San Antonio, Texas.
The situation is considerably more dire in Mexico. In Mexico City, schools were closed across the metropolis of 20 million people Friday after at least 16 people died and more than 900 others fell ill from what health officials suspect is a new strain of swine flu. Mexico officials put the confirmed toll nationwide at 20 dead, but 40 other fatalities are being probed. World health officials are worried that it could mark the start of a flu pandemic.
"While there is concern is about this new virus, I would like to stress that this is not a pandemic situation," Dr, Wilma Wooten, the San Diego County Health and Human Services public health officer, said about the local situation in a news release.
Swine flu is a respiratory illness that normally affects pigs, and only rarely spreads to humans, but in these recent cases the CDC says the patients had no direct contact with pigs.
"It is anticipated that we will see additional cases of human infection with swine influenza because we have heightened our surveillance and put area health care providers on alert," Wooten also said in the news release.
All eight victims in the U.S. have recovered. Testing indicates some mainstream antiviral medications seem to work against the virus. The CDC is checking people who have been in contact with the confirmed cases, who all became ill between late March and mid-April.
Health experts say the last recorded death from swine flu in the U.S. was in 1976 and what is significant to the cases here is not the severity, but the strain.
"This is the very first time that it has been detected," Wooten, M.D., M.P.H said. And with all the attention, she says it's unlikely this is the last of it. "We definitely expect to find more because we're asking doctors to test."
Doctors say symptoms of this flu include fever, sore throat, coughing and nausea.
There is no vaccine, but doctors say some newer medications like Tamiflu have been effective so far.
Get more information about swine flu on the San Diego County "Swine Flu and You" Web page.
