Swine Flu Reality Check
Where Swine Flu Has Hit, and Expert Advice on What to do About It
By LAUREN COX and JOANNA SCHAFFHAUSEN
ABC News Medical Unit
May 1, 2009—
States reporting new cases of swine flu
are lighting up the country like election night. Celebrities are
wearing masks, thousands of children will be out of school for weeks,
and many are cancelling their travel plans for fear of a virus that is currently on level 5 out of 6 on the World Health Organizations pandemic alert level.
Swine flu may sound nasty. As of late Thursday, there are 236 cases of swine flu and eight confirmed deaths worldwide.
But by comparison an estimated 600 people die of tuberculosis, about
1,400 people die from strep and 2,704 people die from a common
asbestos-related lung cancer in the United States every year.
Last year the seasonal flu took the lives of 83 children and an
estimated 36,000 adults in the United States, according to the CDC.
Of course, pandemics can be deadly and need the numbers
have luckily dwindled. The 1957-1958 pandemic flu took 70,000 deaths
above the normal flu season, and the 1968-1967 pandemic flu caused
33,000 more deaths than the average flu season. The virulence of the
virus does matter, but public health measures can clearly make a huge
difference.
The following are some of the quick facts on the swine flu outbreak so far.
Swine Flu Cases in the United States
Arizona: 1
California: 14
Colorado: 2 *
Delaware: 4*
Georgia: 1 *
Indiana: 1
Kansas: 2
Maine: 3 *
Massachusetts: 2
Michigan: 1
Minnesota: 1*
Nebraska 1*
Nevada: 1
New Jersey: 5*
New York: 50
Ohio: 1
South Carolina: 10
Texas 26 cases: 1 death
* These cases have been reported by state health officials, but
have not yet been confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
U.S. Swine Flu News
About 160,000 students nationwide are out of school due to closures in at least 14 states.
The
CDC has confirmed a total of 109 cases in 11 states. At least seven
additional states reported cases Thursday, for a total of 126 cases in
18 states.
About
400 students had flu-like symptoms at the University of Delaware, state
officials reported Thursday. Of them, at least four cases have been
confirmed by local officials.
Georgia announced its first confirmation of swine flu Thursday in a
30-year-old Kentucky woman who fell ill on a trip to the western part
of the state. State officials have said the CDC has confirmed this
case.
Wednesday a small cluster of infections appeared to be emerging in
Washington state, which if confirmed would mean the virus would have
spread to 19 states.
South Carolina officials reported 10 confirmed cases of swine flu among students who recently took a trip to Mexico.
Arizona announced its first confirmed case of swine flu April 29, the
same day that neighboring Nevada announced its first case.
New England gained its first cases of swine flu April 29, after two
people were confirmed to have the virus in Massachusetts. Maine also
confirmed three cases in the state April 29 -- all adults who were
reportedly recovering in their homes, according to Gov. John Baldacci.
Michigan joined the list of states with confirmed cases April 29, and now has a total of two people diagnosed with swine flu.
California was the first state to confirm a case of swine flu on April
21. Since then, 14 of cases in ages ranging from grade school to adults
have been confirmed in Sacramento and southern California.
On April 29, officials confirmed that a Marine at Twentynine Palms
military base had come down with the swine flu. In response the base
quarantined 30 marines. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of
emergency in California on April 28 to release funds to fight the
outbreak.
Texas had the first death in the United States from the swine flu: a
22-month-old boy died April 27 in a Houston hospital. A total of 26 of
people have been diagnosed with swine flu in Texas. The Fort Worth
Independent School District decided to close all schools, likely until
May 11th to stem further infections.
New York has seen the largest number of confirmed swine flu cases after
the first few were detected in California and Texas. A cluster of swine
flu cases confirmed at St. Francis Preparatory School has since spread
to a total of 51 cases across New York City.
Swine Flu at Home, and Abroad
Although Ohio was one of the earliest states to confirm a case of swine
flu, so far only a single person in the state has tested positive. The
case was boy in the third-grade at Ely Elementary School in Elyria,
Ohio. His school canceled classes for a week and scrubbed the entire
interior with disinfectant, according to Amy Higgins, communications
Coordinator for Elyria School District.
Neighboring Indiana announced its first case of swine flu just days
later on April 29. Health officials confirmed that a student at Notre
Dame fell ill.
A Kansas couple represented the first -- and only -- cases to be
diagnosed in the state April, 25 apparently after the husband traveled
to Mexico for professional conference. Officials described their case
as mild and said the couple cooperated in quarantining themselves.
On April 27 the U.S. Department of State issued a travel advisory
against unnecessary trips to Mexico, as did the top European Union
health officials.
Swine Flu Around the World
International Swine Flu Cases
The WHO has officially confirmed 236 cases of swine flu and
eight deaths. The numbers increase according to each country's official
tally.
Mexico: 97 cases, 7 deaths.
United States: 109 cases, 1 death
Austria: 1 case
Canada: 19 cases
Germany: 3 cases
Israel: 2 cases
New Zealand: 3 cases
Peru: 1 case
Spain: 13 cases
Switzerland: 1 case
Netherlands: 1 case
United Kingdom: 8 cases
The WHO announced suspected cases under investigation in at least 15 other countries.
International Swine Flu News
Mexico's government suspects nearly 2,300 cases of swine flu and 159
possibly-related deaths; yet the WHO organization only reports 97 cases
in that country.
The Netherlands and Switzerland both reported their first case each yesterday.
Germany, Austria and New Zealand confirmed cases of swine flu Wednesday, April 29.
A South Korean Catholic nun traveling in Mexico has tested positive for
swine flu, according to reporting by ABC's Joohee Cho. South Korean
authorities believe the 51-year-old woman caught the disease from a
taxi driver and have requested the Mexican government look into the
matter.
South Korea and Ukraine have temporarily banned all pork imports from
North America in response to flu concerns, despite the WHO advisory
that the virus is not transferred by eating well-cooked pork and pork
products.
Suspected cases are being investigated in at least 14 countries,
including: South Korea, Australia, Brazil, Chile, France and South
Africa.
Officials around the world have taken measures from closing schools to
screening people's body heat checking for fevers at airports.
How to Protect Yourself
The CDC recommends the following steps to protect yourself from flu.
Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough
or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective. Doctors say
the biggest mistake many make is to just do a quick rinse under the
faucet while washing their hands.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
Try to avoid close contact with sick people. Influenza is thought to
spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected
people.
If you get sick, CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school
and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.
What Are the Symptoms of Swine Flu?
The World Health Organization is working to develop a profile of the
"typical case" of swine flu, but thus far, the symptoms appear to be
essentially the same as those for the usual winter flu. Hallmark
symptoms of flu include:
High fever
Muscle aches
Headache
Fatigue
Coughing
Runny nose
Vomiting and Diarrhea (less common)
Sources: the CDC, the World Health Organization, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
The Associated Press Contributed to this report