INFLUENZA A (H1N1) - WORLDWIDE (58): USA. AFRICA
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[1] USA (Ohio)
Date: Fri 5 Jun 2009
Source: The Columbus Dispatch [edited]
Just because someone has [A (H1N1)] swine flu [virus infection]
doesn't mean that public-health workers monitoring the outbreak will
track the case. Recently, a test at Nationwide Children's Hospital
showed that an 11-year-old girl from suburban Columbus had influenza
A, raising the probability that she had swine flu.
Dr. Dennis Doody, a pediatrician, said the girl 1st came to his Far
North Side office on 26 May [2009], and he sent the test to the
hospital. He thought the initial positive result would prompt the Ohio
Department of Health to perform a test to confirm whether she had the
H1N1 virus.
But the state didn't run the test. Health officials say it fell
outside guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. Those guidelines have been in flux since the beginning of
the outbreak and call for testing only in certain cases.
Specifically, tests to confirm swine flu currently are called for when
a person has been or should be hospitalized, has been in contact with
an infected person and might be a part of a cluster of cases.
The narrow parameters are designed to best monitor changes in an
outbreak that has been relatively mild so far, public-health leaders
say.
Possible cases are routinely rejected for subsequent state testing. In
Franklin County, health officials have collected 266 screening forms
indicating possible cases, but only about 1/3rd of those have met
testing criteria, said Mitzi Kline, spokeswoman for the Franklin
County Health Department.
In the case of the 11-year-old girl, her parents wanted an answer and
on 28 May [2009] paid a private California lab about USD 300 to
perform the test, which confirmed swine flu. The girl is recovering at
her home.
Ohio health officials on Wednesday [3 Jun 2009] added her case to the
state tally, which now stands at 35 confirmed cases, including 2 new
cases in Franklin County. A 35-year-old woman was confirmed as having
swine flu yesterday [4 Jun 2009], and the other case involves a
13-year-old girl, said Robert Jennings, a spokesman for the state
Department of Health.
Both Kristopher Weiss, also a spokesman for the Ohio Department of
Health, and Franklin County Health Commissioner Susan Tilgner said
they understand the parents' desire to get a definitive answer, but
identifying every single case is not essential to the greater mission
of tracking the virus.
"The whole point is trying to look for cases that tell us where H1N1
might be going next," Tilgner said.
Federal health officials have determined that looking at the sickest
patients and those whose illnesses are or might be connected is key,
and both federal and state experts are considering monitoring this flu
in a less aggressive way, considering its current mild nature, Tilgner
said.
Knowing that a flu case is swine flu shouldn't change anything about
the treatment or recommendations given to that patient or her family,
Tilgner said. All people sickened with flu should isolate themselves,
and the available antiviral treatments are used for both seasonal flu
and swine flu.
Yesterday [4 Jun 2009], the nonprofit Trust for America's Health put
out a report on lessons learned so far in the swine flu outbreak.
Among the group's findings:
* Investments in pandemic planning paid off.
* Public-health departments do not have enough resources to carry out plans.
* Response plans must be adaptable and driven by science.
* Clear, straightforward information is essential to allay the
public's fears and build trust.
[Byline: Misti Crane and Jim Woods]
--
Communicated by:
Abramo Ottolenghi, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Ohio State University
Dept. Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics
[ProMED thanks Dr. Ottolenghi for sending in this report. The U.S. CDC
has developed a PCR diagnostic test kit to detect this novel H1N1
virus and has now distributed test kits to all states in the USA and
the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The test kits are being
shipped internationally as well. This will allow states and other
countries to test for this new virus. That may increase the number of
confirmed A (H1N1) cases which would otherwise be suspected or, as the
above report indicates, not reported at all. The CDC states that
advance consultation is required for the submission of diagnostic
materials for all cases
A map of the states in the USA showing the location of Ohio can be accessed at
- Mod.TY]
******
[2] Africa
Date: Thu 4 Jun 2009
Source: Panapress [edited]
The World Health Organization (WHO) is currently investigating 8
patients in 6 African countries for the [A (H1N1)] swine flu virus but
insists there are no laboratory confirmed cases in the continent [One
case has since been confirmed in Egypt; see case count posted 5 Jun
2009. - Mod.JW].
According to information obtained exclusively by PANA here Thursday [4
Jun 2009], the patients being investigated as of 3 Jun 2009 include
one each from Namibia, Cape Verde, Eritrea, Gambia and South Africa as
well as 3 from Congo Democratic Republic.
Meanwhile, the WHO has continued to consider raising the pandemic
level to phase 6 due to the growing spread of the virus, PANA has
learned.
Phase 6, the WHO's highest pandemic alert system, described as a
global pandemic, is the stage that the global community has long
feared due to its implication: possible economic disaster.
The designation may not necessarily reflect the severity of the
disease but [only] its spread.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
[Information on cases and spread of A (H1N1) influenza virus in Africa
has been scanty. ProMED would appreciate receiving additional reports
as information becomes available.
A map showing the location of the African countries mentioned above
can be accessed at
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of Africa can be accessed at
- Mod.TY]
[see also:
Influenza A (H1N1) - worldwide (57): Brazil, USA 20090605.2090
Influenza A (H1N1) - worldwide (56): case counts 20090605.2089
Influenza A (H1N1) - worldwide (55) 20090603.2056
Influenza A (H5N1) - worldwide (54): dynamics 20090601.2038
Influenza A (H1N1) - worldwide (53): case counts 20090531.2025
Influenza A (H1N1) - worldwide (52): seasonal vaccine 20090530.2010
Influenza A (H1N1) - worldwide (51): dynamics 20090529.1999
Influenza A (H1N1) - worldwide (50): swine immunity 20090528.1987
Influenza A (H1N1) - worldwide (40): case counts 20090521.1906
Influenza A (H1N1) - worldwide (30): case counts 20090516.1831
Influenza A (H1N1) - worldwide (20): case counts 20090510.1741
Influenza A (H1N1) - worldwide (10): case counts 20090504.1675
Influenza A (H1N1) - worldwide (02): case counts 20090430.1638
Influenza A (H1N1) - worldwide 20090430.1636
Influenza A (H1N1) "swine flu": worldwide (07), update, pandemic 20090429.1622
Influenza A (H1N1) "swine flu": Worldwide 20090427.1583
Influenza A (H1N1) virus, human: worldwide 20090426.1577
Influenza A (H1N1) virus, human - New Zealand, susp 20090426.1574
Influenza A (H1N1) virus, human - N America (04) 20090426.1569
Influenza A (H1N1) virus, human - N America 20090425.1552
Acute respiratory disease - Mexico, swine virus susp 20090424.1546
Influenza A (H1N1) virus, swine, human - USA (02): (CA, TX) 20090424.1541
Influenza A (H1N1) virus, swine, human - USA: (CA) 20090422.1516
Influenza A (H1N1) virus, swine, human - Spain 20090220.0715
2008
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Influenza A (H1N1) virus, swine, human - USA (TX) 20081125.3715]
...................................................ty/msp/jw
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