Illinois: State to declare public health emergency next week, Peoria health official says
By KAREN MCDONALD (kmcdonald@pjstar.com)
Journal Star
Posted Sep 17, 2009 @ 08:28 PM
PEORIA —
Gov. Pat Quinn next week will declare a public health emergency to provide more resources for a public health response to the H1N1 virus.
The declaration will allow the Peoria City/County Health Department and others to take advantage of opportunities to allow communities to respond to the viral threat through federal funding, said Health Department Administrator Greg Chance on Thursday.
“The declaration does not necessarily indicate that we’re at the extreme measure as it relates to H1N1, but it provides the tools necessary, especially from a public health response related to the mass vaccination programs that will be a challenge for all public health departments,” Chance said.
During a joint meeting Thursday, county and local health officials discussed responses to the H1N1 virus if there is a major outbreak in central Illinois.
For more on this story, read more on this story in Friday’s Journal Star or check pjstar.com later.
http://www.pjstar.com/homepage/x1699586498/State-to-declare-public-health-emergency-next-week-Peoria-health-official-says
Entire family contracts swine flu
Getting treatment and getting better hasn’t been easy”
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=7018069
“WAKE COUNTY (WTVD) — An entire family stricken with the H1N1 virus has been held up for days inside their Fuquay-Varina home afraid of making others sick.
“It’s scary, it’s awful,” H1N1 patient and mother Amy McGrady said.
Mom, dad, their kindergartner and even their 3-month-old has the H1N1 virus.
“We’re all running fevers and we’re all still contagious,” McGrady said.
Contagious, but committed to getting the word out about H1N1, they called their son’s school to warn other parents.
“We were kind of shocked at the response that the school system gave,” H1N1 Patient and father Shawn McGrady said.
Wake County declined to send out a notice -that’s the district’s policy.
The Wake County School System said the county Health and Human Services Department has advised it to treat H1N1 cases among students just like the regular seasonal flu.
“We just want to get the message out, that it is out there,” Amy McGrady said. “There are people who are suffering with it; we just don’t want them to have to go through what we did.”
They’ve endured typical flu-like symptoms and their infant had a fever of 103.
The McGrady family also said getting treatment was a challenge.
They said Tamiflu hasn’t been tested in children less than six months old, so for their son, there’s a health risk.
It took two pharmacies to fill his prescription. One had to turn the McGrady’s away, because their supply was on back order.
“People need to know what the challenges will be if they come down with it,” Amy McGrady said.”...