Houston, TX:
Student Dies From Swine Flu
POSTED: Friday, October 16, 2009
UPDATED: 11:44 am CDT October 16, 2009
http://www.click2houston.com/news/21316607/detail.html
HOUSTON — A Pasadena high school student has died after catching the H1N1 virus, also known as the swine flu, KPRC Local 2 reported Friday.
A school district spokesman said the Dobie High School junior had not been in class recently.
The student, who was not identified, passed away on Wednesday.
Pasadena ISD officials said it is a difficult time because earlier this month, another student passed away from cancer.
“The loss is tremendous and we want to support the family and the students who have suffered that loss,” said Candace Ahlfinger with the Pasadena ISD.
Officials said the student had been out of school since September, and he also had the pre-existing condition of asthma.
So far this year, there have been six swine flu deaths in Harris County. Four of the deaths occurred in September and two in October.
In Houston, there have been three swine flu deaths, including the Dobie High School student.
Fort Bend County has had three swine flu deaths and Brazoria County has had one.
Houston Health Department spokeswoman Kathy Barton encouraged everyone to practice good hygiene to prevent the spread of the disease.
“Maintain good, interpersonal space between themselves and other people. Wash your hands frequently. Avoid touching your face during the day. Cover your cough. If you’re sick, stay home. If your kids are sick, do not send them to school,” Barton said.
The Houston Health Department said it always tracks pediatric deaths, but more so nowadays in regards to influenza deaths. Health officials said it’s a better way to protect the community.
“So that we may make recommendations in regards to immunizations or potential actions that people in the community need to do to protect themselves,” Barton said.
School officials said additional cleaning of the school is not necessary since the student has not been in class since September.
School custodians are using a special disinfectant on all the doorknobs to prevent the spread of any disease.
5 More Swine Flu Hospitalizations In Illinois
Posted: 11:10 AM Oct 16, 2009
http://www.wifr.com/news/headlines/64500847.html
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Five people were hospitalized for swine flu in Illinois this week.
Font Size: The Illinois Department of Public Health released the updated statistics on Friday. The department cited no swine flu deaths in the past week, but did not include the death of a 14-year-old suburban Chicago high school student that was related to swine flu.
Michelle Fahle, a Naperville North High School student, died last week, bringing the state’s total swine flu deaths to 20.
DuPage County Health Department spokesman Dave Hass said the county coroner is conducting tests to see if other medical problems contributed to the girl’s death. He said the results would not be available until later this month.
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India:
119 new swine flu cases, no deaths
http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-132547.html
New Delhi, Oct 16 : There were no fresh deaths in the country due to swine flu Friday but 119 new cases of infections were reported, the health ministry said here.
Among the new infections, 40 cases were reported from Kerala followed by 27 in Maharashtra and 22 in Delhi. Other states which reported fresh cases of influenza A (H1N1) were Andhra Pradesh (9), Karnataka and Haryana (6 each), Tamil Nadu (4), Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh (2 each) and West Bengal (1).
With these cases Maharashtra remains the most infected state with 3,444 cases closely followed by Delhi, which has 3228 cases of swine flu so far. With 405 cases, the casualty figure remains unchanged across the country.
Among the states, Maharashtra has lost 171 people due to the pandemic followed by 112 in Karnataka, 42 in Andhra Pradesh and 38 in Gujarat.
India reported its first swine flu case in Hyderabad early May and registered its first H1N1 casualty in August first week.