Swine Flu UPDATE:A Texas Woman Dies From N1H1 With 1490 Cases Reported
Swine Flu UPDATE:A Texas Woman Dies From N1H1.
A Texas woman has died from the swine flu, according to health officials from Texas on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009. This death is the second recorded death in the United States linked to swine flu and the first death of a U.S. resident.
The news came as authorities in Mexico and the United States, where hoping that the worst of the outbreak of the H1N1 virus was over.
The woman, who died earlier this week from the swine flu, was from Cameron County in South Texas. The Texas Department of State Health Services said the woman had “chronic underlying health conditions,” but did not provide more details.
The United States’ first death from swine flu came last week: a toddler whose family was visiting Houston, Texas, from Mexico.
By Tuesday afternoon, WHO confirms the number of H1N1 virus cases at 1,490 in 22 countries. The World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that this number includes 822 confirmed cases in Mexico. There have been 31 deaths world wide from the swine flu according to WHO. 29 of those deaths where in Mexico
There were 403 confirmed cases of the swine flu in the United States, according to the CDC, and another 693 suspected cases counted by various state agencies.
The 403 confirmed U.S. cases are in 38 states, most of them in New York (90), Illinois (82), California (49) and Texas (42), the CDC stated Tuesday, May 5th, 2009.
Meanwhile, U.S. officials now recommend that schools stop closing when a case of swine flu is confirmed at a school, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Tuesday.
Scientists believe the H1N1 virus epidemic is no more dangerous than seasonal flu, and schools should act accordingly.
“This virus does not seem to be as severe as we once thought it would be,” she said at the CDC in Atlanta, Georgia.
“Sick students should be kept home for seven days,” Kathleen Sebelius said, “but the schools should feel comfortable about opening.”
Schools that have been closed can reopen, Sebelius said.
Dr. Richard Besser, the CDC’s acting director, stated that, “closing schools in a pandemic has a definite benefit. But closing during a general flu outbreak is not required. When you get to situations that are approaching general flu, then the downside of closing schools outweighs the benefits.”
And federal officials have been hearing from local officials “how incredibly difficult and burdensome school closure is,” he said.
He called the new guidance “a science based decision that involves a lot of judgment.”
Mexican authorities announced plans to reopen government offices and restaurants Wednesday, May 6th, 2009, and museums, libraries and churches the following day, citing improvement in the battle against the virus.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano acknowledged claims by Mexican authorities who believe that their swine flu cases have peaked. Napolitano states that, “I have no reason to think that is inaccurate.”
She still holds true to the fact that “What the epidemiologists are seeing now with this particular strain of H1N1 is that the severity of the disease, the severity of the flu, how sick you get, is not stronger than regular seasonal flu.”
WHO and CDC authorities still plan to monitor developments in the Southern Hemisphere, where flu season arrives over the next few months as winter begins there.
Those results will help determine whether a stronger strain of the virus will return to the United States and the Northern Hemisphere during the fall flu season.
Doctors at the Mexico City Naval Hospital have similar optimism. The hospital has examined more than 2,000 patients since last Wednesday and no patients tested positive for the swine flu, according to Dr. Manuel Velasco.”That may mean the virus is stabilizing and then can be totally controlled, but we have to wait for the new week to begin.”
Early Tuesday, May 5th, 2009, the Mexican and Chinese government sent chartered flights to each other’s countries to pick up their respective nationals stranded or quarantined because of the world wide swine flu outbreak.
WHO officials state that there is no immediate plans to raise its pandemic alert to the highest level, 6.
For the full story of “Swine Flu UPDATE: Texas Woman Dies From N1H1,” go to CNN News.
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