Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

By Jennifer Jordan
Journal staff writer

PROVIDENCE. R.I. -- Saying that swine flu is now "widespread" in Rhode Island, state health officials Tuesday announced the second confirmed death from the virus.

A woman who had underlying health conditions that increased her risk for serious illness died of the H1N1 virus in an area hospital on July 3. Health officials declined to offer many details, citing privacy concerns, but said she was between 40 and 60 years of age and lived in Providence County.

"Sadly, we have the second death of a Rhode Island resident from illness associated with H1N1," Dr. David R. Gifford, the state's health director said, offering condolences to the woman's family. "This is a reminder that H1N1 is in Rhode Island and continues to spread."

Gifford said that while most reported cases are mild, people with underlying medical conditions such as heart or lung disease, diabetes, immunosuppression or pregnancy are at risk for contracting a more serious case of the virus, commonly known as swine flu.

A teenage girl from Kent County who attended the Meeting Street School, a school for students with special needs, died June 14 at Hasbro Children's Hospital. Health officials said the girl also had underlying medical conditions that put her at risk.

So far, 58 Rhode Islanders have been hospitalized with the virus and 170 people have been diagnosed with the swine flu, but those numbers do not tell the whole story, said Dr. Robert Crausman, chief of infectious disease and epidemiology at the Rhode Island Department of Health.

"If you've got flu symptoms right now -- sore throat and fever -- you've probably got H1N1," Crausman said. "Pretty much everyone we are testing for flu has swine flu. We need to remind people this is a worldwide pandemic and our expectation is this will be with us for the rest of the year."

In a typical winter flu season, about 150 to 200 Rhode Islanders die, many of whom are elderly and have underlying health conditions, Crausman said. Nationally, about 30,000 Americans die each winter from influenza.

"We are planning now for what the vaccine program will be," Crausman said. "Nationally and internationally, it's spreading. We are fortunate that so far, it seems to be mild in most cases."

Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report 33,902 cases of swine flu and 170 deaths since the virus first emerged in April. More than 70 countries have reported cases of the H1N1 virus, according to the CDC. The World Health Organization classified the outbreak as a pandemic on June 11.

The state Health Department encourages residents to take these steps to prevent getting the illness:

• Wash hands frequently with soap and warm water, or with alcohol-based hand gels when water is not available.
• Cough and sneeze into your elbow.
• Anyone sick with Influenza-like illness -- fever plus cough or sore throat -- should stay at home for 7 days after symptoms begin or until symptoms have stopped for 24 hours, whichever is longer.

For updated information: see the Health Department Web site or call (401) 222-8022, Monday-Friday, 8:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

(This entry was first posted at 1:27 p.m.)

 Tags  health Providence County swine flu

Comments

Warwick Resident said:

My condolences to the friends and family of the victim... However, I must say that this article is not very useful. The practice of omitting the underlying condition means that readers are not permitted to have enough information. For thousands of people who have asthma, heart diease or other conditions, it would be helpful to know which underlying condition it was, and whether anti-virals did not work or were given too late. In the current swine flu situation, the interpretation of HIPAA is preventing people who have underlying conditions from understanding which treatments may be effective, and the kind of complications they could expect. The Health Dept. should at least speak about cases in an anonymous or statistical manner; i.e. nationwide people with asthma make up a certain percentage of deaths, or diabetes another precentage, and the types of treatments tried.

Link | July 8, 2009 7:55 AM
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Starina said:

I strongly agree with the comment by Warwick Resident.

Link | July 8, 2009 2:29 PM
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strep throat symptoms said:

Man, when is this going to end

Link | September 15, 2009 2:40 PM
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