Two students in Ft. Zumwalt district schools in St. Charles County are the latest confirmed cases of the H1N1 flu virus. In a letter to parents, the district said one has recovered and returned to school and the other is undergoing treatment.
Two cases of H1N1 flu virus reported at separate high schools in St. Louis County last week are related, The St. Louis American confirmed. The cases involve teenage male roommates.
One attends Pattonville High School and the other attends Normandy. The boys live at a St. Louis area residential facility that will not be named in order to maintain confidentiality. The teens have fully recovered and returned to their schools.
“Both of the boys are symptom-free and are doing just fine,” the site director said, adding they have “no idea” how the H1N1 virus was contracted. Neither boy had traveled to Mexico or outside of the area.
Good communication about what symptoms to look for, prior pandemic preparation and staff vigilance paid off.
“We got them medical care right away,” the director said.
When the first boy displayed symptoms, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health officials were contacted.
Both boys received Tamiflu antiviral treatments and “responded very, very fast.”
“We followed all the CDC protocols,” the site director said. “We isolated, we disinfected all the living quarters.”
The director said no other residents have indications of illness.
The CDC and state and local health officials said parents and school officials should not be overly alarmed by two H1N1 flu cases among school-age children. Last week, the CDC revised its guidelines to say school closure is not advised for a suspected or confirmed case of the new virus.
The St. Louis County Health Department did not release specifics of the case, although a County official did attend the joint press conference between the two districts last week.
“Anytime we have a case like this, we test anyone they have come in contact with,” a spokesman said.
“Anyone who has flu-like symptoms should see a doctor, but at this time there is no indication of a large swine flu outbreak here,” said Dr. Dolores J. Gunn, director of the St. Louis County Health Department.
Missouri has 19 confirmed cases since the outbreak began. Nationwide, more than 3,350 H1N1 flu cases have been confirmed, including three deaths. However, the numbers of flu cases do not tell the entire story, because many people who get flu go undiagnosed, untested and unreported.
“Our hospitalizations and cases continue to occur in younger persons, the median age of cases is 15 years and 62 percent of the confirmed cases are under 18,” Dr. Anne Schuchat, CDC interim deputy director for Science and Public Health Program, said.
“Seasonal influenza viruses are continuing to circulate in the U.S., but this novel H1N1 virus as well as the unsubtypable viruses now do account for a significant number of the viruses we’re detecting.”
Pregnancy and H1N1
The CDC also reports seeing serious complications among pregnant women who have contracted the new H1N1 flu virus. A pregnant woman in Texas was one of the U.S. fatalities. Schuchat said although doctors may be reluctant to prescribe and pregnant women may be reluctant to take antiviral medicines, the CDC urges their use for those with the flu.
“We have about 20 cases under investigation right now,” Schuchat said. “A few of the patients have had severe complications.”
She described those as pneumonia and dehydration as well as complications for the newborn, including premature labor.
“The benefits of using antiviral drugs to treat influenza in pregnant women outweigh the theoretical threats to pregnant women,” Schuchat said. She also urged pregnant women to get flu shots for seasonal flu.
The CDC will monitor the new flu virus in the Southern Hemisphere during the summer months when flu usually wanes here to help health experts learn what the case may be for next year’s flu season in the U.S. and the rest of the Northern Hemisphere. Work also continues toward possible development of H1N1 vaccine.
“We’re trying to build a strong foundation for understanding the spread of the virus by establishing lab diagnostic capability nationwide and throughout the world,” Schuchat said.
“CDC has sent five different virus isolates to eight different labs around the world, and those laboratories will help us identify which would be best developed into a vaccine.”
Internationally, more than 5,200 cases of the H1N1 flu virus have been confirmed in 30 countries, with deaths reported in Mexico, the U.S., Canada and Costa Rica.
Information about how you can safeguard against the H1N1 flu virus can be found at http://www.stlouisco.co