Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

By Richard C. Dujardin
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A teenage girl from the Meeting Street School girl has become the first person in Rhode Island to die from the swine flu, state health officials confirmed yesterday.

Annemarie Beardsworth, spokeswoman for the Department of Health, initially identify the grade or the school that the student was attending, but that as far as can be determined "there has been no active outbreak" of the virus at the school.

Beardsworth said she did not know when the girl died, but said that the girl's flu-like symptoms first became apparent outside of the regular classroom setting. She said the teen had other medical conditions that could have contributed to her death, and died at Hasbro Children's Hospital.

It normally takes one to two days after a swab has been taken for the state health department to determine whether a patient has the H1H1 virus. Beardsworth said the department received the results confirming that the teenager had the virus on Wednesday.

As of 3 p.m. Wednesday, Rhode Island has had 94 positive cases of the swine flu virus, according to health officials, including 23 people who have been hospitalized to date. She said most of the people who have been hospitalized have had underlying medical conditions, and "cover the entire age spectrum."

Beardsworth observed that school departments no longer shut down a school when a student develops swine flu symptoms, but instead asks school nurses to monitor absenteeism on a daily basis for any sign that there is an outbreak.

Beardsworth said that as far as she knew the deceased teenager did not have a travel history that would have taken her to Mexico or another foreign country, but now that the swine flu virus has spread across the country that question is no longer deemed relevant, and is not even asked.

"While this is sad news for us, following the trends in other states we were weren't surprised by this," Beardsworth said.

She said Rhode Islanders are again urged to help prevent the spread of the virus by washing their hands frequently with soap and warm water, or with an alcohol-based hand gel; coughing or sneezing into their elbow if needed.

She said anyone who is stick with flu-like illness, such as a fever plus cough or sore throat, should stay home for seven days after the symptoms begin or until the symptoms have stopped for 24 hours, whichever is longer.

 Tags  health Providence RI swine flu

Comments

Charles said:

This swine flu pandemic is getting out of hand in my area. People aren't talking about anything other than the swine flu.

Link | June 18, 2009 12:29 PM
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Common Sense said:

Can we just stop with this "swine flu" paranoia? This poor girl died but in the article it says "She said the teen had other medical conditions that could have contributed to her death, and died at Hasbro Children's Hospital." Enough already, this little girl had other medical conditions. The flu is the flu and people die each year from it. The media won't be happy until people are walking around in masks! Enough is enough. If this poor girl got the "regular" flu who's to say she still wounldn't have passed away. May God bless this girl and keep her family close to his heart.

Link | June 18, 2009 4:52 PM
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Deb said:

The difference between h1n1 (swine) flu and
the seasonal flu is that the population
doesn't have any immunity to the swine flu.
This causes more widespread infection, a much longer period of outbreak, and death toll.
Any group with less than optimum immune
systems are at more risk. This group
includes healthy children. It is the responsibility of the media to keep
the public informed.

Link | July 10, 2009 8:59 PM
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pat said:

This underlying condition is a bunch of BS. Who in the hell does not have an underlying condition? How many people do you know that DO NOT take meds for one thing or another. That is neither here nor there. The bottom line is they died of the swine flu. The elderly person that died today at age 71 I can see them saying that. But not two 12 year olds.

Link | November 10, 2009 11:49 PM
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pat said:

Deb, it's also our responsability to make sure we let them know that we want all the facts and not just what they want us to hear.

Link | November 10, 2009 11:52 PM
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