Utah reports first swine flu death; NYC has closed 21 schools

It seems like it is in the news every time to turn it on or open the paper. The H1I! virus. School districts are preparing plans to comfort parents as to what they would do should it affect our area. Parents are worried watching their children for any sign that they might possibly have contracted the virus. Recently, I read a very interesting article from www.cnn.com talking about this particular subject and how it is affecting their school system. Now that the United States has had their first "official" swine flu death I am sure that more schools will be looking at plans if they don't have one already. I know my school district already had a plan in place before I really knew much of what it was. Now I feel that I have been educated enough to talk about it comfortably.


This past weekend I came down with a really bad case of strep throat. I went to the doctor and was questioned in depth about my experience with visiting Mexico and if I had been in contact with anyone that visited recently. The "flu like" symptoms of strep throat are very similar to those of the swine flu so the doctors were extra careful. During the same time I started to feel sick a colleague of mine also started to feel under the weather. She did not have strep throat and is still feeling crummy. Now the doctors have started administering swine flu tests on her and it quickly hits home how scary this virus is.


This article talked in depth about how NYC schools are nervous about the H1I1 virus and instead of taking chances they are just closing schools down temporarily because parents are calling in with reports that their children are feeling "flu like" symptoms. One man who was an assistant principal at a NYC school died this past Sunday having contracted the disease. He was also said to have an underlying condition as well. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has linked eight U.S. deaths to the flu outbreak, but had not confirmed a link to H1N1 in the Utah death as of Wednesday evening (CNN, 2009).



Even though it is scary to think about how this virus can affect our lives so suddenly I feel very good that we are doing a good job of preparing for it. It is better to be aware of the situation and have a plan than be surprised and cause panic.



Brunswick, D. (2009, May 20). Utah reports first swine flu death; NYC has closed 21 schools. Retrieved May 27, 2009, from http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/05/20/swine.flu.death/index.html#cnnSTCText