Flu fuels fears, adds to burden in ERs

By Denise Dick

Testing is required only if the patient is hospitalized or in the case of a pediatric death.

Flu symptoms that keep Mahoning Valley residents home from work or school are presumed to be H1N1, but confirmation comes only after testing at a state laboratory.

“Unfortunately, the numbers [of cases] that are out there right now are meaningless,” said Neil Altman, Youngstown health commissioner.

While many Valley residents suffer from fevers, coughs and sore throats, the only way a case is confirmed as H1N1, also called swine flu, is through testing at a laboratory at the Ohio Department of Health.

That’s the only reference lab in the state, Altman said.

Influenza cases are presumed to be H1N1, said Matthew Stefanak, Mahoning County health commissioner. “We know that 90 percent of the cases of the flu that are circulating are H1N1.”

That’s based on a surveillance network of physicians through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Stefanak said. Symptoms are the same whether a person suffers from the seasonal flu or H1N1, he said.

The CDC’s Web site says H1N1 symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people may vomit and have diarrhea. Some people may have respiratory problems without a fever.

The treatment, a prescription for antiviral drugs, also is the same for both types of flu.

Altman likened the widespread fear of H1N1 to the early to mid-1980s when HIV was first in the news. Many who feel ill believe they have the flu virus.

Emergency rooms are inundated, Altman said. “It’s a burden on the ERs,” he added.

Most H1N1 cases aren’t life-threatening, however.

“People hear H1N1 death, but the subtitle to that is that the person had some underlying medical problem,” Altman said.

On Monday, the 2,332-student Poland school district saw 187 absences, said Dr. Robert Zorn, superintendent. About 70 student absences is normal, he said.

“There are a lot of kids here with influenza,” the superintendent said. “But we don’t know that it’s swine flu because there are no confirmed cases.”

A doctor may conduct a rapid test in his or her office that will indicate the presence of a virus but not specifically the H1N1 virus, Altman said. The test to confirm H1N1 is expensive and takes days.

“A physician or a nurse takes a swab, puts it in a container and sends it to the Ohio Department of Health,” he said.

Presumed cases require testing only if the patient is hospitalized or in the case of a pediatric death, said Wes Vins, Columbiana County health commissioner. There is one confirmed case in Columbiana County, Vins said, but he declined to provide information about the individual — who he said is recovering.

“That person is well on their way to getting back to their regular life,” Vins said.

Some facilities, including several area Walgreens locations, have run out of the seasonal-flu vaccine. The Mahoning County Health District will have a seasonal-flu clinic from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday at Clear Channel, South Avenue, Boardman.

Seasonal-flu clinics begin next week in Columbiana County. Area health departments will announce clinics when H1N1 vaccine becomes available to the general public.

denise_dick@vindy.com