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Has H1N1 hit its peak?

11/5/2009 9:55:04 AM

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Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN and news services

The H1N1 flu epidemic may have peaked, as hospitalizations and outbreaks at schools dropped in the past week, according to Minnesota Department of Health officials.

Area H1N1 vaccination clinics

• Olmsted County Public Health, Rochester, 2100 Campus Dr. S.E. walk-in clinic for uninsured/underinsured kids. Friday 1 to 4 p.m. Kids ages 6 months to 18 (ages 5 to 18 must have chronic health conditions).

• Olmsted Medical Center in Rochester, limited child injectable doses for current patients age 6 months to 18 -- by appointment only. Age 5 to 18 must have a chronic health condition. Call 288-3443 to schedule an appointment.

• After a flurry of appointments Wednesday and today, Mayo Clinic no longer has vaccine available for now.

"I am optimistic that we have peaked," said Dr. Ruth Lynfield, Minnesota's state epidemiologist, who has been tracking the outbreak since April. "But we need several weeks of data to know for sure."

Officials also reported three more deaths from H1N1, including two from southeastern Minnesota.

In the final week of October, 137 schools reported outbreaks of flu-like illness, down from 288 the week before, according to the Health Department. Those are schools where more than 5 percent of students were out sick, or more than three elementary-school children were absent from the same class.

In southeastern Minnesota, the school outbreaks centered on Winona and Houston counties, which had six and five, respectively. Wabasha, Olmsted and Fillmore counties each had one, and Goodhue had two.

Meanwhile, 182 people were hospitalized with confirmed cases of H1N1 last week, compared to 225 the week before. Nineteen of the hospitalizations were in southeastern Minnesota.

Health Department officials say the three confirmed deaths all had underlying health conditions. They didn't provide names or sexes of the victims, but they were a Hennepin County resident in their 50s, a Fillmore County resident in their 20s and a Winona County resident in their 70s.

Flu pandemics typically come in several waves; another wave is possible.

The Health Department also tracks flu-like illness at 25 "sentinel" clinics around the state. Last week, only 3.5 percent of patients at those clinics had flu-like symptoms, down from 7.5 percent the week before and a high of 12.6 percent in mid-October.

The department also reported another death from a flu-like illness that wasn't confirmed as H1N1. The fourth death was an "older adult" who died of the flu, but there wasn't a sample available to test and confirm what type of flu.

Also, state health officials say they are making plans to vaccinate young children in schools throughout the state in a few weeks, but only if they get enough vaccine and with parents' consent.

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OnlyTheTr
uth
MN, MN

Posted on 11/5/2009 at 10:10:25 AM

Just like Jesus parted the waters...oh wait, that was Moses, anyway...Obama declares H1N1 a global emergency..... and within days, the disease subsides.

Thank you Obama, the great one, the holy one. I bow to you, the pure one.

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