‘Gradual increase’ in swine flu seen

By Mary Wade Burnside
Times West Virginian

FAIRMONT June 26, 2009 12:27 am

— A third case of H1N1 (swine) flu was confirmed in Marion County on Thursday and a three more were confirmed in Monongalia County as the disease makes its way through the state.
“I think the disease is progressing the way we thought it would,” said Bob White, regional epidemiologist at the Monongalia County Health Department. “It starts out slow and we see a gradual increase.”
The third Marion County case, in an 8-year-old, is not related to the first two that were confirmed, in a 4-year-old and a 6-year-old respectively who are best friends.
“This does not have an epidemiological link to the first two, which is expected,” said Jamie Moore, the threat preparedness coordinator at the Marion County Health Department. “It’s circulating within the population.”
Normally updated on Friday morning, the Web site for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov) was updated at 7 p.m. Thursday and reflected 27,717 cases of swine flu and 127 deaths of the disease in the United States. However, The Associated Press reported Thursday that health officials estimate that there could be as many as 1 million cases of swine flu in the country.

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