Swine Flu in Idaho

[Mtn. States Resident]

Another sad headline to see.

"Four Utah deaths linked to H1N1 flu"

It appears in the headline I posted yesterday that either a health department hadn't confirmed H1N1 yet in a 30 something year old man, who lost his fight with H1N1, or otherwise missed the information.

Utah has had at least four deaths in less than a week from H1N1. ~ ~

http://www.sltrib.com/portlet/articl...350&siteId=297


PLEASE wash your hands often, and use precaution. Not even I thought we'd be seeing this many deaths in Oct. Please keep yourself and your family, friends, neighbors as safe as possible.

And Lee, back to that subject we were talking about - volunteering, one need I heard of yesterday, is apparently some seniors can't get transporation to the vaccination clinics for whatever reason. That is another way volunteers will make a difference. I'm sure you've thought of many more ways since we first posted that aspect of this evolving story.

Take care everyone,

MSR

[Mtn. States Resident]

North Idaho residents, now is your time to hopefully share information with the rest of the state and your neighbors.

From KHQ:

"" HAYDEN, Idaho. - The H1N1 influenza virus may have contributed this week to the death of a Post Falls man in his 30s who had influenza symptoms. "

" When, or if, confirmed, this man's death will be the fifth in Idaho related to the H1N1 virus since September 1.

I wasn't aware of at least two of the deaths. I do know about the Canyon County man and the Pocatello teen. Does anyone have any ideas in which county or Health Dept. the other two people who lost their lives, resided? I ask because I think it is important for those to read this to understand how close this is literally to home. Additionally, family members or others may have been around those who died.

The focus of this thread is to educate, share information and help others decrease their own risk to H1N1 as much as possible. Please post if you know approximately where the other victims lived. The point is not to be intrusive to their survivors, but to make sure those who should be made aware of the death and their exposure to one of the victims, are made aware of the deaths.

H1N1 may have contributed to North Idaho man's death - KHQ Right Now - News and Weather for Spokane and North Idaho |

MSR

[Mtn. States Resident]

The CDC just made this information available for pregnant women. If you know a woman who is currently pregnant, you may want to share this information with her.

This has to be very difficult for pregnant women. We've never had a pandemic of influenza previously that had pregnant women at such high risk. If you know a pregnant woman, give her an extra hug right now. This is something her mother or grandmother didn't have to deal with and it is frightening.

http://www.flu.gov/individualfamily/...nant5tips.html

Sending Cyberhugs to all pregnant women (and those who love them) ~ ~ ~

MSR

[Mtn. States Resident]

I don't like the headline as I do think it is a case of media trying to get more attention. However, maybe someone really feels people aren't listening.

From MSNBC:

"Shortage of shots as more kids die of swine flu"

Read, if you wish, and evaluate for yourself. I simply wanted to make the information available.

Shortage of shots as more kids die of swine flu - Kids and parenting- msnbc.com

Take care everyone

MSR

[Mtn. States Resident]

I was sad to get this emailed to me (glad that even lurkers are reading this thread and starting to pay attention), but very sad about the news.

I wonder if this accounts for the other deaths I couldn't find last week. . . . .

To all the families and friends of those who lost their lives fighting this virus (confirmed or suspected), I offer my sincere condolences.

From KIFI Localnews8 ..... (thanks to the person whose name I promised to protect for sending this to me to make sure it was posted before I had time to review data today).

Bonneville County Has First H1N1 Related Death - KIFI - Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Jackson WY - Weather News Sports-

Please be careful everyone and give this news release some serious thought. I need to clarify that not all 3 deaths have been confirmed yet; only one. That's one too many for me.

MSR

P.S. If others are reading this thread and opt not to join CDF, but have updated H1N1 information, please do what this person did and email me using one of the major two addresses I use. I will protect your name! I hadn't even thought of this before. Glad this person trusted me enough to send what was released not too long ago.

Or, if you know others who post on any Idaho thread (or anywhere in CDF), please email someone you trust and ask them to add information here, PERTINENT to IDAHO, or border states and/or Canada.

What matters most to me is getting information out to people so individuals can make their own informed choices.

[Mtn. States Resident]

You can read the article yourself. Bonneville County may be a bit skewed, like Ada County and Kootenai, as they are the only counties that have f/t Infectious Disease doctros, unless something has changed in the last month.

To be honest, I've been warning my own family for months. Can't be where I've been (on certain hospital floors) and not be painfully aware how deadly this virus can be. Now, I think my own family is going to drive me bonkers with their emails.

Again, my condolences to the family of this 4th victim in 8B County as well as all the other families dealing with the loss of a loved one to H1N1.

From KIDK:

" Four H1N1 deaths"

" Two confirmed H1N1-related deaths are men ages 43 and 61. A woman in her 50's and a teenage boy from Hillcrest High School also passed away after experiencing flu-like symptoms. Although this causes concern among health care professionals, it's not leading to panic."

" 'Actually exactly what we expected. This is a very serious virus. We've been telling people that for months,' " says Dr. Richard Nathan."



" 'We just don't have it (vaccine). It's not available and it's coming to us in much smaller quantities than we had anticipated.' "

'This fridge has about 35-hundred doses of the H1N1 vaccine but that's not enough to vaccinate everyone in the priority groups.' "


KIDK TV | Four H1N1 deaths | - Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Blackfoot - Idaho

Please be careful everyone.....

MSR

[Mtn. States Resident]

Per KIFI:

"Swine flu claims 3rd Wyoming resident"

Swine flu claims 3rd Wyoming resident - KIFI - Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Jackson WY - Weather News Sports-

I like to watch the states bordering Idaho, since many often travel to neighboring states for getaways, or vice versa.

MSR

[Mtn. States Resident]

From KIFI an update about the Bonneville County teen who originally was suspected to have H1N1 as the cause of his death:

"AMMON - The Bonneville County Coroner confirmed the Hillcrest High School student did not die from the H1N1 virus."

Hillcrest High Student Did Not Have H1N1 - KIFI - Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Jackson WY - Weather News Sports-


MSR

[Mtn. States Resident]

From the Deseret News (and multiple other news sources).

"H1N1 flu kills 5 more Utahns"

"As the H1N1 and seasonal flus continue to spread throughout the Beehive State, five more Utahns have died and scores of others have been hospitalized in the past week after contracting the flu."

"The Utah Department of Health's newest report, released Wednesday, shows eight total deaths associated with the H1N1 virus since Sept. 1 — five more than the department reported a week ago. It also reported that 274 people have been hospitalized after contracting either H1N1 or the seasonal flu — more than double the 127 reported to date last week."

"Two of the deaths were in Davis County, both females, one age 50-64 and another 65 or older. Two deaths were reported in Salt Lake Valley — a male age 25-39 and a female age 65 or older — and one in the Tri-County health district (Daggett, Duchesne and Uintah counties), a male age 25-49."


From what I posted earlier, the male frin the Tri-County Health District, who reportedly was in his 30s if I recall correctly, was added into the total death count from H1N1 last week. Given how I did the math last week, it would be correct to add 4 more deaths, not 5 in Utah. If my math is correct, that makes the total number of UT deaths from H1N1 = 26 (since the outbreak in April.).

The number of patients for various types of influenza being more than double last week's total is something everyone should pay attention to for many reasons. At least 2 hospital chains in UT, of which I'm aware, are already working on their worst case scenarios - essentially a mass casuality of H1N1 admissions. How do they care for the patients when so many staff are out ill as well?

I was told an eastern ID hospital sent all pregnant female employees home one day during the past week to protect the moms and unborn babies as much as possible.

There are so many people from southern, southeastern and eastern ID who travel to Utah often, either for a brief get away, perhaps for homecoming games as many attended UT universities, or other business or travel purposes, including SLC International Airport. While the direct flight from SLC to Tokyo has been suspended until next summer, I believe the direct flight from Paris to SLC is still flying. Plus, for Delta/NW Airlines passengers, SLC is the second largest hub. Almost all traveling from the south or east coasts will be in SLC to change planes to reach their final destinations in the west.

[b]Please note there are changes in who should be the first to receive the N1H1 vaccine:
[i]
"The Salt Lake Valley Health Department will hold mass H1N1 vaccination clinics on Saturday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., or until its 7,000 new doses of the vaccine are gone. (See accompanying box for addresses.)"

"The number of people eligible for the vaccine has expanded, with officials now urging the following groups to be vaccinated:

( 1. ) "Pregnant women."

( 2. ) "Those who live with or care for children younger than 6 months old."
.
( 3. ) "Health-care or emergency personnel.**"

( 4. ) "Children 6 months old to young adults 24 years old."

( 5.) "Those under age 64 with chronic medical conditions associated with higher risk of medical problems from influenza."
** From (3) above, I know that Idaho doctors cannot find enough vaccines to get themselves vaccinated, let alone their office staff or midlevel providers such NPs or PAs.


Clark Fork Fantast, here is a statistic you and I have been looking for:

"Since April, H1N1 flu has killed more than 800 people in the U.S., including 86 children, 39 of them in the past month and a half, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than half of all hospitalizations since the beginning of September were people 24 and under." Unfortunately, the sex of the victims isn't listed.

The rest of this article is accessible at the link I've posted below.

My sincere condolences to all the families and friends who lost a loved one to H1N1 recently. At some point someone at CDF is going to personally know a victim and/or the victim's family.

Given this news, does it change your view about being vaccinated yourself, or having your children vaccinated?

Deseret News | H1N1 flu kills 5 more Utahns

Please take all the precautions you can to stay as safe as possible from this virus. Think about what you would need at home to care for yourself, children or possibly loan neighbors/relatives if the hospitals are too full and can't admit any more patients. What do you use to reduce fevers, what do you use for a liquid diet if G.I. symptoms are involved? What do you use to manage a cough, before you can see/or talk to a health care provider about it?

Also, I'd encourage everyone to think about having extra groceries or supplies on hand. Some businesses in UT are already having to close temporarily so many employees are ill. Think of how many schools are out currently due to various influenzas. Between caring for their sick children at home, and taking care of their own symptoms, what would you do if too many essential employees needed to run/stock a grocery store (or pharmacy), were not able to go to work and you couldn't go to the store/pharmacy to get what you usually do?

I don't want to create fear or panic among those who read this thread. That said, I believe anyone who can stock up on some extra supplies to care for themselves and their kids would be wise to do so. Again, it may be your neighbors or relatives who need the extra cans of soup, applesauce, juice, Gatorade, or whatever you put away to deal with viral infections. This is one time I don't think it is safe to assume all stores will be open when you need supplies, given how rapidy this virus is moving through ID.

Also, one thing I here physicians complain about often, is how many people have no thermometer at home to take a family member's temperature. It doesn't have to be a fancy ear temperature guide, the old thermometers work too.

Please plan ahead and prepare accordingly. I want everyone here to be as safe as possible. Western Gal and potentially others have already experienced H1N1. The threat is very real. Please see your health care provider (or call ahead of time to make sure you know if you should come in or not, and receive additional directions from your doctor or NP/PA of how to best manage symptoms you or family members may have.

Sending cyberhugs to all who are scared or uncertain about H1N1. We'll get through this by working together.

MSR

[Mtn. States Resident]

From KMVT News:

"H1N1 takes less toll on elderly; and if you're sick, stay home."

[b] "Officials with the US Centers For Disease Control Say half of all people hospitalized for swine flu over the past few months were age 24 and younger, however more than two-thirds of the deaths reported by 27 states were in adults ages 25 to 64."[/B]

This statement bothers me: "And as cases of flu spread across Idaho, most times people don't need to see a doctor and will completely recover at home with proper care." KMVT does NOT clarify for which types of flu healthy adults don't need to see a doctor, nor do they quote a specific physician, only hospitals. I have no idea to whom they talked to at the hospitals they listed. I also didn't read the local health department being quoted.

With all due respect to the hospitals listed in this story, there are NO Infectious Disease Doctors in Jerome or Twin Falls, unless someone just moved there who is a specialist in I.D. Nor, can I find in the story exactly how many patients have been confirmed or screened for H1N1, let alone hospitalized in the Twin Falls metro area.

Obviously, this is just my opinion and each person is an enitled to their opinon too. However, I think the Infectious Disease specialists in Idaho, currently practicing in Boise, Coeur d'Alene and Idaho Falls have much more experience with H1N1 and years more training, than even the general Internal Medicine or Family Practice physicians. It is highly likely this news channel spoke to an RN or other non-physician, hospital staff. I'm not dinging RNs, but stating the facts: RNs simply do not have the years of additional traning I.D. physicians do.

Hopefully, this news channel will clarify more in their broadcast today.

I posted this story to encourage those who listen to the news to listen or read carefully of what doctors are being quoted, or if no doctors are. I encourage everyone to question news stories if you don't think there is enough factual data being given and/or the sources for the story aren't being named. If they are experts, they give their names, in my experience sorting through all the news about H1N1.

The rest of the story, including when the unnamed people from the area hospitals recommended seeking medical care, is contained in the link below.

H1N1 takes less toll on elderly; and if you're sick, stay home. | KMVT | Twin Falls, ID News, Weather and Sports | LOCAL

MSR