Swine Flu: Illinois Confirms 421 Cases, 187 In Chicago

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- Health officials say they've confirmed 421 cases of swine flu in Illinois, including 187 in Chicago.

Saturday's tally from the Illinois Department of Public Health is 28 more than Friday's total.

In Chicago, officials have announced the closing of a school on the city's far North Side because of the spread of swine flu.

The closing Friday of the Northside Learning Center in the Jefferson Park neighborhood came two days after school officials reopened the Joyce Kilmer Elementary School. That school had been closed for a week because one student there had the flu.

School officials said Northside, a special education facility with 288 students, will be closed Monday. Reported absences have been about three times the normal rate for this time of year.

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On the Net: http://www.Ready.Illinois.gov

Comments

[euthman]

04:52 PM on 05/10/2009

We have had two suspected flu cases on patients who came to our hospital ER. Both were positive for influenza A on the screening test we do in house. As instructed, we sent the nasal swab specimens to the City of Houston Health Dept for H1N1 confirmation. As of ten days later (Friday), we had not received a result. One specimen was sent by them to CDC, and the other hasn't even been logged into their information system yet.

I suspect the public health labs are grossly overwhelmed and are packed to the rafters with specimens waiting to be run. If so, then no one has a clue as to what the true incidence of the infection is. They keep talking about the number of "confirmed" cases, but if they are not doing the confirmatory test in a timely manner, this is a meaningless figure. It's perfectly understandable that they can't handle this enormous bump in demand, but they should not lead the media and the public to believe they are on top of things.--Ed Uthman, MD

[humble liberty]

12:08 AM on 05/10/2009

Well that's more serious than things seemed.

[wdw505]

10:31 AM on 05/10/2009

still only 1 dead