Swine flu spreads to Jefferson County
Jeffco Department of Health headquarters in Lakewood.
LAKEWOOD: Swine flu closed a Jefferson County charter school for a week after the county’s first two confirmed cases of the illness were confirmed Sunday.
The cases, a man in his 20s and a middle-school age youngster who attends Excel Academy in Arvada, doubled the number of confirmed cases in the state. At least a half-dozen more cases are suspected and health officials are awaiting test results from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.
Both Jeffco flu victims had recently had contact with people who had visited Mexico or places in the U.S. where the flu is circulating, a state Health Department official said.
The closure of Excel Academy for the coming week was posted on the Jeffco School District website and the charter school’s website Sunday afternoon as the Colorado Department of Health announced the two new cases at a mid-afternoon press conference.
The announcement marks Colorado’s first school closing since the disease was confirmed in the state last week. Schools in New York and Texas also have closed because of the flu.
“The state Health Department and the Jefferson County School District have recommended that we close the school for one week and we are following their recommendation,” academy executive director Holly Hensey wrote in a message to parents on the school’s website. “At the end of one week, they will assess our status and decide whether students can come back to school.”
The students will continue their schoolwork online for the week, the school district said.
Jeffco Department of Health spokeswoman Nancy Braden said the agency has been fielding calls form schools for a week.
“When we get calls (from schools), we are having our epidemiologist talk to them … as schools – or anyone – call us, it provides us an opportunity to make sure that they have the latest guidelines on the H1N1 virus,” Braden said.
Jefferson County last week received its share of anti-viral drugs from the state, one of 13 Colorado counties that have received the medication. It will be reserved for people who are ill and is not available as a preventative, Braden said.
Heightened public awareness also is reflected in the number of calls for information as well as quite a few from folks who think they have swine flu.
“And we expect that will be continuing until people really understand what the symptoms are, Braden said. “But the main thing for us right now is for people to follow the guidelines: wash your hands frequently, cover your cough, stay home if you get sick. That’s probably the biggest one.”
As of Sunday, there were 506 cases worldwide and only two deaths, one in Texas and one in Mexico – the epicenter of the outbreak. The Centers for Disease Control said Sunday 226 cases had been confirmed in the U.S.
The state agency issued guidelines for schools and day-care centers in hopes of corralling the spread of the disease, suggesting that anyone with symptoms be sent home “until 24 hours after the symptoms are resolved.”
The warning signs of the illness, which don’t surface until after the victims is contagious, are similar to those of most flu strains: fever greater than 100 degrees, head and body aches, sore throat, cough, congestion, chills, fatigue and stomach problems.
Braden suggests that people displaying those symptoms go home and call their doctor.
Although the disease has been fairly mild in most victims, serious concern remains over its pandemic spread.
” What we are concerned about is that this is a new virus. It’s a virus that’s never been seen before, it’s spreading from person to person and it is spreading across the globe,” Braden said.
“When we start seeing it in more and more people, then there’s a potential that some people will come down with a more serious form.”
