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H1N1 case confirmed in county
Published May 6, 2009
ANGLETON — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Tuesday a Lake Jackson resident had the H1N1 virus last week.
Despite the first confirmation of the virus commonly called the swine flu in Brazoria County, officials are not recommending any area schools be closed.
“Definitely not,” said Brazoria County Health Director Dr. Leo O’Gorman.
Brazoria County also has one probable case of H1N1 —a Rosharon-area boy younger than 18 — and officials still are awaiting word on whether it will be confirmed.
Officials also reported Tuesday the death of the first American citizen from the H1N1 virus.
Few details were immediately released, but health officials told The Associated Press a patient who died earlier this week was a woman in her 30s who lived in Cameron County, along the U.S.-Mexico border. Carrie Williams, a spokeswoman with the Texas Department of State Health Services, said the woman had other, chronic health conditions, but didn’t offer specifics.
The only other swine flu death reported in the United States was a toddler from Mexico visiting relatives in Texas.
The CDC announced Tuesday it is changing recommendations about school closures, saying campuses could remain open despite a confirmed case of H1N1. Most cases of the infection in the United States have not been severe, the agency states.
“School closure is not advised for a suspected or confirmed case of novel influenza A (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,” the agency states in a release.
The agency previously had recommended schools could close campuses where cases of H1N1 flu had been confirmed.
O’Gorman said the confirmed and probable cases found in Brazoria County are not highly contagious and neither suffered any life-threatening symptoms.
The Lake Jackson resident who tested positive for the virus is older than 18 and recovering at home, O’Gorman said. It is not known how the person was infected, he said.
“Our investigation has shown no positive results from those the person came in contact with,” he said.
The boy county officials report as a probable case lives in the 77583 ZIP code, which is the Rosharon area. He was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital in Houston 11 days ago with flu-like symptoms and was released after a seven-day incubation period, said Jim Wiginton, who is civil division chief for the Brazoria County district attorney’s office.
The boy also is home and recovering, officials have said.
Jo Mapel, director of public health emergency preparedness for the Brazoria County Health Department, said the only information that could be released about probable and confirmed cases were the ZIP Codes where the patients live and whether they were older than 18. The CDC now is reporting probable and confirmed cases instead of just confirmed cases, Mapel said.
The Lake Jackson area is within Brazosport ISD, and the school district is following the health department’s advice, Assistant Superintendent Dennis McNaughten said. There are no class cancellations, and attendance levels have been normal throughout the flu scare, McNaughten said.
“We don’t know who the person is, so we don’t know if they have children or if it will affect the school or not,” he said. “We’ll continue to follow the advice of the county health director. If we can prevent kids from getting sick, that’s good.”
Rosharon students attend either Angleton ISD or Alvin ISD, and district officials are keeping an eye on the situation, Angleton ISD Superintendent Heath Burns said.
“In cooperation with Brazoria County health officials, no recommendation for closure have been made,” Burns said. “We will continue to monitor the situation and communicate with our constituencies.”
Burns did not know if the probable case was a student at Angleton ISD.
Alvin ISD reported Tuesday one student has been tested for the disease, a district release states.
“There is one Alvin ISD student who has been out of school for more than a week and was tested, but is showing no signs of illness and has received a medical release,” the release states. “This is not considered a confirmed case.”
District spokeswoman Shirley Brothers said it is not known if the Alvin ISD student is the one who is the probable case. Brothers said she also could not say when the student was tested or what campus the student attended.
Alvin officials remain vigilant and continue to urge teachers and students to wash their hands and practice good hygiene, Brothers said.
“We’re taking the recommendations of the Brazoria County Health Department,” she said. “We’re in regular contact with them and have been told there are no confirmed cases. We have no closures and no immediate plans for closures.”
“People who have these symptoms should call their doctor,” Mapel said. “The sooner anti-viral (medications) are started at the onset of symptoms, the more effective they appear to be. That’s the case with any flu.”
The World Health Organization and CDC on Tuesday deemed the swine flu outbreak a pandemic, meaning people worldwide are at risk for infection and illness, according to press release from Brazoria County spokeswoman Marie Beth Jones. A pandemic is defined by the number of areas in which the health outbreak has occurred, not by the number of people infected or severity of the illness.
John Lowman and John Tompkins are reporters for The Facts. Contact them at (979) 849-8581.
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Common Symptoms
Of all currently known H1N1 flu cases:
• 95 percent have a fever of 101 or higher
• Median fever is 102.5
• 96 percent report a cough
• 65 percent have sore throat
• 46 percent have diarrhea or vomiting
• 100 percent meet the clinical definition of influenza
• H1N1 cases are not easily confused with cold symptoms (itchy, watery eyes, sneezing, runny nose)
Source: Texas Department of Health Services
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