LOS ANGELES—The good news about swine flu is that there are no confirmed cases in Los Angeles County as of Wednesday, April 29, according to Dr. Jonathan Fielding, Director of Public Health and Health Officer of Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. The bad news is that it is difficult to distinguish the symptoms of swine flu from those of seasonal influenza.
"What is particularly important is that the flu that’s being talked about in the country exhibits symptoms similar to the symptoms of seasonal influenza," Dr. Fielding told newsmen at a press conference held at the steps of the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration Building in downtown LA. "So it becomes everybody’s opportunity to reduce their risk of getting any kind of influenza," Dr. Fielding said. "That means washing your hands well. You want to sing the ABC song or Happy Birthday twice, as a way of timing your hand-washing," he said.
He said that it is important and necessary to wash dirt from under the nails too because those were places that a virus could thrive in. "Secondly, cover your cough; cover your sneeze, so you don’t infect other people," Dr. Fielding instructed. "Don’t touch your eyes, your nose, and your mouth with your hands," he added.
"Above all, if you are ill, don’t go to work, and don’t send your child to school if he is sick. Oftentimes, that’s the way (a virus) is spread," warned Fr. Fielding. "Just like regular influenza, the most important treatment for this is to keep your self at home," Dr. Fielding said. The symptoms of swine flu, like seasonal flu, are fever, lethargy, dry cough, stuffy nose, occasional backache, and extreme tiredness. Persons who think they have the foregoing symptoms should call their doctor.
The County Public Health Director steered clear of identifying the schools that reportedly had swine flu cases. "We will work closely with the schools if something is identified, and we will tell parents what they should do," Dr. Fielding told a journalist who raised the question about unverified swine flu cases in an unnamed school in LA county.
"There are no confirmed cases of swine flu in LA County at this time," Dr. Fielding reiterated many times. "We have specimens that are sent to us by physicians and by hospitals that we are testing, and we will follow up on any outbreak," Dr. Fielding assured. "We are testing every day in our laboratory, and we will let you know if there are any confirmed cases."
Dr. Fielding reported that there were two issues hampering his department’s quest to put a handle on the swine flu epidemic. "Not everyone is reporting their condition, and seasonal influenza is still prevalent, he said. "Since the pattern of swine flu in the United States has been virtually indistinguishable from those of seasonal influenza, you really can’t tell," Fielding admitted. And to make matters worse, the Center of Disease Control (CDC) keeps changing the definition of possible suspects and probable cases, according to Dr. Fielding. So for absolute confirmation, the County Public Health Department sends specimens to the State and to the CDC in Atlanta, Georgia. The Public Health Director said that deaths from swine flu were inevitable. "It is terrible that there are deaths from influenza," Dr. Fielding lamented. In L.A. County, about 1000 deaths are ascribed to (seasonal) influenza every year. "It will not be surprising if we get an occasional death from this," Fielding said. A 22-month baby from Mexico that was admitted into a Texas hospital had died on Wednesday, April 29.
The good news: one cannot contract swine flu from eating pork, Dr. Fielding assured. "Wearing masks in public is also not necessary," Fielding said. A couple of Asian-American journalists obviously did not agree: they attended the press conference wearing masks.
( Published on May 2, 2009 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. A1 )
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