Sunday, June 7, 2009
The Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department confirmed one case of H1N1, commonly known as the swine flu, in Douglas County last week.
Lisa Horn, spokeswoman for the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, said that the man was in the later stages of the illness and was no longer contagious.
“We asked him to isolate and stay at home to limit contact with others,” Horn said.
She added that a case of H1N1 had also been confirmed in Leavenworth County, which includes the cities of Leavenworth and Tonganoxie.
Horn said she did not think the flu should affect students’ travel plans for the summer.
“At this point, travel isn’t as big a concern as it was early in the outbreak,” she said. “The disease is so widespread that changing travel plans to avoid infection is not really a recommendation. It’s just not something you can really avoid.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been 92 confirmed cases of H1N1 in the state of Kansas. Out of 13,217 cases in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, only 27 have resulted in death.
Patricia Denning, chief of medical services at Watkins Memorial Health Center, said outbreaks in other countries were also of concern at the health center. “They did have a travel ban to and from Mexico in May, but they did lift that. We do watch that because we have a lot of students traveling to study abroad,” she said.
Denning also said that while H1N1 has affected people internationally, there was no need to panic because the flu has a low mortality rate.
“All that indicates is how widespread it is, not how virulent,” she said.
Both Horn and Denning suggested simple tips for avoiding not only H1N1, but most viruses in general, including:
Thoroughly washing hands daily with soap and water.
“When we say wash your hands, very few wash their hands correctly or well enough. When you’re washing your hands, that means lots of soap and water and working between your fingers and say your ABCs slowly twice. It’s not a dash under the sink and a slap with the soap,” Denning said.
Avoid touching the “triangle” of your eyes, nose and mouth.
Harmful bacteria on your hands could be spread to these areas by touching.
Policing your peers.
Denning said that being aware of one’s surroundings and avoiding others who exhibit symptoms of illness was important to staying healthy.
“We can, as caregivers or parents, tell people to do this, and they kind of blow it off. But if we can encourage this policing it can make a difference.” Denning said.
Denning said students should be aware of the symptoms of H1N1, which are similar to the symptoms of any flu virus: fever, body ache, sore throat, cough, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
“If people are feeling poorly, we encourage you to take your temperature and if it is high, call a health care provider,” Denning said.
She said more thorough testing was needed to confirm whether or not a patient has H1N1. A nasal test must be administered and the results sent to a state facility that tests for H1N1 strains.
— — Edited by Zach White
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