Check out The Daily's swine flu page.
There have been two confirmed cases of the swine flu in Cleveland County, said Shari Kinney, administrator for the Cleveland County Heath Department.
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"One (female with swine flu) is a high school student and one is an adult female and both of them when they became ill stayed home, they saw their physician and they have both recovered," Kinney said.
Kinney said health officials believe their exposure to the rest of Cleveland County is limited.
"That is always a possibility," she said. "Of course, it's been about six or seven days since they became ill and we haven't seen other cases so far that have been confirmed that were associated with these individuals."
Kinney did say, however, that she expects to see more people with the virus in Cleveland County, but that there have been more cases of seasonal flu.
"I would say at the rate that people are being tested that we will probably see more cases that are confirmed," she said. "But just to put it in perspective, we don't test every person who has flu-like symptoms so we would expect to maybe have some cases confirmed, but right now actually, we are getting more positive tests for seasonal flu.
She said swine flu is not as serious as first thought.
"We are seeing cases but the cases so far that have been identified have been no worse than seasonal flu, very few have been hospitalized," Kinney said.
She said people should not be afraid to eat pork.
“The virus is spread person-to-person, not by eating pork or pork products," Kinney said. “There is no vaccine to prevent this new flu and the current flu vaccine used to prevent seasonal influenza will not provide protection against this new flu strain.”
Oklahoma State announced Wednesday plans to cancel the traditional handshake for graduates at this year's commencement ceremonies because of concerns of spreading the swine flu. Other universities around the country are doing the same.
Kinney said she is not recommending OU consider not shaking hands at commencement ceremonies, but that people instead should make sure to take health precautions by washing their hands.
Contacted by The Daily about how this will affect the university, OU press secretary Jay Doyle said, "We continue to monitor and evaluate the situation."
The Cleveland County Health Department reminds the public to continue to practice these recommendations to prevent the spread of influenza:
· Wash hands often to protect yourself from germs.
· Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth; germs are often spread when a person touches a contaminated object and then touches his or her eyes, nose or mouth.
· Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
· Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing, or “sneeze in your sleeve.”
· If you are sick, stay home from work, school, church, and running errands. You will help prevent others from catching your illness.
Persons with questions about H1N1 influenza may call: Cleveland County Health Department at (405) 321-4048
Front page photo by The Associated Press.
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sooners009 3 years ago
I agree with the previous comment
DrFuego 3 years ago
The fact is that around three weeks ago, swine flu was an unknown virus with enough in common with the deadly viruses of the past to warrant concern. Now it has been proven to be fully treatable. It's excusable to sound the alarm when you don't have full information; it's inexcusable to keep ringing that alarm bell when the evidence no longer supports it.
sooner_born 3 years ago
According to the CDC, 36,000 people die from the REGULAR FLU each year. If you aren't threatened by normal flu (most healthy adults are not), then there is no need to worry about the swine flu. The hysteria needs to stop. Thank the media for blowing this out of proportion.
your_still_life 3 years ago
This is the most hyped up illness and the stupidity of this newspaper only makes it worse. Of course you can't get swine flu from eating pork. Who's that stupid?
I'm so tired of the hype put forth by this paper. It obnoxious and unfounded. Swine flu, now known as H1N1, was never the threat it was first said to be. Illnesses don't become less dangerous.
People need to move on, and stories building up more ill feelings towards this virus only make it worse.
Not shaking hands at commencement? Who really considered that? That sounds like some sophomore journalism student trying to stir something up for more attention.
Sick and tired of this paper and how they've approached H1N1. Time to grow up, people.