10 more cases of swine flu confirmed in Yuma county

  The number of swine flu cases in Yuma County climbed to 11 Tuesday as county officials learned that 10 new cases had been confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control.

  All 11 people infected with the New H1N1 virus have since recovered, said county officials, who were seeking Tuesday to ease public concerns over the virus' much-publicized spread to various countries and to U.S. states, Arizona among them.

  “We will continue to release numbers of confirmed cases in Yuma County, but we are now conducting ourselves as if this is a regular flu season. The conduct of the New H1N1 is presenting itself as a regular flu virus,” county Health Director Becky Brooks said in a news release.

  Early last week, as swine flu gained increasing attention, Yuma Regional Medical Center's Emergency Department became crowded with hundreds of patients who suspected they had contracted virus,. The hospital issued a public appeal to residents with the hospital to issue an appeal to residents with flu-like symptoms to stay home where they would not spread the virus.

  “I want to thank every resident in Yuma County for the way they are handling themselves during this flu virus,” Brooks said in a news release. “Traffic at the local hospital has dropped off considerably as residents have begun to understand that it is important to stay at home and take care of themselves if they, or their loved ones, display the symptoms.

  Kevin Tunell, the county's public affairs director, said county officials would have few or no other comments beyond what was stated in daily news releases, and Yuma Regional Medical Center said it had nothing to add to Tuesday's release from the county.

  Since the outbreak, the county has been sending patient samples to the Arizona Department of Health Service, which in turn has sent them to the Atlanta-based CDC for testing.

  On Saturday, the county got word that the first of the samples it had sent out had tested positive. That sample came from a 15-year-old San Luis High School student, who, county officials said, has recovered.

  Tuesday's release did not indicate where the 10 new cases came from.

  Meanwhile, the county adopted new CDC guidelines for school closures:

  • School closure is not advised for a suspected or confirmed case of the New H1N1 and, in general, is not advised unless there is a magnitude of faculty or student absenteeism that interferes with the school’s ability to function.

  • Schools that were closed based on previous interim CDC guidance related to this outbreak may reopen. CDC recommended that schools focus on early identification of ill students and staff, staying home when ill, and good cough and hand hygiene etiquette as the primary strategy to reduce the spread of influenza in schools.

  • Parents and guardians should monitor their school-aged children, and faculty and staff should self-monitor every morning for symptoms of influenza-like illness.

  The New H1N1 virus strain currently being monitored in the United States is a new type of virus never seen in people until recently, county officials said. This flu strain has the same symptoms as seasonal influenza: sudden onset of high fever, runny nose, body aches and exhaustion. Some people with this strain have nausea and diarrhea.

  “As we have been saying all along, if you are feeling sick and under normal circumstances you would not have gone to the emergency room, then you should not go now,” said Brooks.

  “If you are ill and your symptoms become unmanageable at home, or you have a need for urgent medical treatment, contact your primary care physician for guidance.”