County swine flu watchers gear up

Officials ‘expect' cases in Maryland

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

An outbreak of the virus that carries the same symptoms as seasonal flu was first reported in Mexico City over the weekend — a situation that has virtually turned the tourist spot and the country's largest city into a ghost town. Thousands are reported sick with the virus there and more than 150 people have died from the ailment, said Mexican health authorities Tuesday.

There were 50 confirmed cases of swine flu in the United States on Tuesday, according to federal health officials. Cases have been reported in New York, California, Texas, Kansas, Indiana, Florida and Ohio.

Officials of the Charles County Department of Health Department and Civista Medical Center are constantly checking the Centers for Disease Control Web site to track the spread of the virus, local health officials said. So far, no confirmed cases of the ailment have been reported in Maryland, said Bill Leebel, spokesman for the county's health department.

"We're meeting daily with health department and Civista representatives," he said Tuesday. "We're getting daily updates from the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene about what's happening."

The virus causes the same symptoms as the seasonal flu, Leebel said, including fever, sore throat, coughing, body aches and extreme tiredness. Anyone who has a fever of more than 100 degrees that is accompanied by a cough and/or sore throat should first call a primary care doctor before going to the emergency room, he said.

Health officials have a pandemic flu plan in place that was acted out last summer at Civista, Leebel said.

"We've had a plan in place for about a year now," he said. "If we need to we can modify the plan and be ready to go if the need arises."

This flu outbreak is breaking the typical mold for the virus, according to health officials. The flu season usually runs from November to March with a peak in confirmed cases in January and February, said Linda Kandel, Civista's director of marketing and planning.

This strain of flu popped up out of nowhere, Leebel said.

"It's unusual to have such an outbreak now but this is a different type of virus; it's not following the rules of seasonal flu," he said. "This one breaks the rules in a number of ways."

Kandel said that Civista's emergency department is prepared in the event that swine flu shows up in Charles County. Officials are reviewing the pandemic flu plan, inventorying supplies that might be needed if an outbreak occurs and checking several times a day with the CDC and the state to monitor any new reports of the virus, she said.

The hospital's disaster team was scheduled to meet Tuesday and Civista and health department officials will meet to discuss the situation Thursday, Kandel said. Meanwhile, personnel in the emergency department have been instructed to give anyone who exhibits flu symptoms a mask to avoid the spread of the virus. A throat swab will be taken for testing to determine whether the ailment is swine flu.

If a patient tested positive, he would be put in isolation at the hospital, Kandel said.

"We're reacting pretty fast to this," she said. "We're doing everything that we know to do. We're taking every step possible. We're taking this very seriously and acting accordingly."

Civista's actions are necessary because it's only a matter of time before the virus turns up in Maryland, said state health officials.

"We expect cases here in Maryland. That's what we're preparing for," said Fran Phillips, deputy secretary of public health with the DHMH. "This is definitely a situation that's going to evolve in the next 48 to 72 hours."

A handful of specimens statewide have been taken and tested. All have been negative, Phillips said.

The state is also using "nontraditional" ways of conducting medical surveillance. For example, a couple of hundred pharmacies have their inventories plugged into a network of computers. State health officials can get a daily report on sales of over-the-counter medications, which might show an increase in respiratory illness, Phillips said.

"We're not seeing evidence of any significant increase in retail sales," she said.

Emergency rooms have seen a slight increase in the number of people arriving with flu-like symptoms, Phillips said, but that could be the result of seasonal flu, greater sensitivity because of media reports or the tremendous increase in the pollen count, which could have people confusing allergic reactions with the flu.

"We're in a watch, wait and see mode at this point," said Mary Anderson, a spokeswoman for the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services. "We're actively talking and working throughout the area."

Phillips said the swine flu cases that have appeared in the United States have been relatively mild compared with the severity of the cases in Mexico.

Maryland has a stockpile of 276,000 doses of Tamiflu, one of four known anti-viral medications that are effective against swine flu, said David Paulson, a DHMH spokesman.

The federal government also plans to release its stockpile of Tamiflu, should it be necessary, he said, and that would mean 200,000 additional doses.

Charles County health officials are planning for a possible flu pandemic but are hoping that the situation will not arise, Leebel said.

"We're on top of it," he said. "We're meeting daily about it. This isn't going to get ahead of us."

nmcconaty@somdnews.com