Panhandle Health District

                                                             8500 N. Atlas Road         Hayden, Idaho  83835

www.phd1.idaho.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                        Date:     June 5, 2009                  

Contact:                                                              Released by: Jim Fenton, Acting, Director                        

Cynthia Taggart

Public Information Officer

(208) 415-5108

(208) 818-7288 (cell)

H1N1 Virus Still Present in Panhandle

              The Idaho State Laboratory confirmed the fourth and fifth cases of Novel H1N1 (swine) influenza in the five northern counties this week, reinforcing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s message that the virus continues to spread.

              The latest cases are in women in their 20s. Both are recovering without hospitalization. One of the women lives in Kootenai County and recently traveled to Seattle. The other is a visitor to Bonners Ferry. She is isolating herself until she’s no longer contagious.

              Panhandle Health District (PHD) is monitoring both patients’ contacts for signs of flu symptoms and is working with the medical community and local governments to control spread as much as possible.

              Three previous cases of H1N1 flu were in Kootenai County. They were unrelated and all have recovered without complications.

              “Flu-prevention techniques should become a lifelong habit with all of us,” said Lora Whalen, director of Family and Community Health for the Panhandle Health District. “Washing hands well and often, staying home when you’re sick, covering your cough and sneeze—those practices help protect you and everyone else from H1N1, but also from many other illnesses.”

H1N1 symptoms include:

• Fever
• Sore throat
• Cough
• Body aches
• Headache
• Chills
• Fatigue

PHD advises that anyone with particularly the first three symptoms stay home and keep their distance—three to six feet—from other people for seven days or until the symptoms end, whichever is longer. People should call a health care provider if symptoms become unmanageable.

Health authorities believe H1N1 spreads through the air like the seasonal flu. Because H1N1 is a new virus, people have little to no immunity to it. Symptoms, too, are similar to the seasonal flu. Only a test can identify the virus causing the illness.

No vaccine is available yet to prevent catching the new virus. The process to develop an effective vaccine takes six to nine months from the time the virus is first identified.

              Idaho so far has been spared the H1N1 spread that many states have experienced and none of its cases have required hospitalization. But health officials know continued vigilance on their part and the public’s is important.