PORT TOWNSEND — A young Port Townsend woman, who had the first confirmed case of swine flu on the North Olympic Peninsula, has already recovered.
A state health lab confirmed the infection on Thursday but — as with many of those in the 42 countries where the flu has spread — her illness was mild, said Dr. Tom Locke, health official for the Jefferson County and Clallam County health departments.
The lone case in Jefferson County is one of 58 new cases announced by state health officials Friday. There are now 574 confirmed swine flu cases in Washington state, mostly in King County.
One confirmed case means that there are probably about 20 unknown cases of swine flu onthe Peninsula, Locke said.
He declined to provide any more information about the woman, such as her name, age or occupation because he didn’t want to identify her.
He also declined to say if her family and friends are at risk for infection for the same reason. Locke said there is no reason for alarm, and Jefferson County Public Health Department officials are not considering taking any measures because of the one confirmed case.
Closing schools or public facilities wouldn’t work, anyway, he said.
“We pretty much abandoned that as a control strategy,” he said.
“We would have to close all schools to slow transmission.”
Because the flu is so mild, it’s difficult to know who has swine flu or just seasonal flu, so closures wouldn’t accomplish much, Locke said.
“The circumstance of this outbreak didn’t justify it,” he said.
Less dangerous
Locke said there is reason to believe, based on the death rate, that swine flu is even less dangerous than seasonal flu.
He said those who are at the highest risk of death from either swine flu or seasonal flu are children under age 5, adults over 65, people with chronic heart or lung problems, and pregnant women.
What should people do if they think they have swine flu?
“Usually they should to deal with it like if you have seasonal flu,” Locke said.
“They should call their regular medical provider. They will usually ask some questions over the phone and decide whether this is something that needs to be examined.”
Results from a state health lab in Shoreline, that has the only capability to test viral cultures for swine flu, take about a day, he said.
Only Type A influenza cultures are sent to the lab for testing for swine flu, Locke said.
Anyone with any type of flu should stay home, he said.
Locke said people sick with the flu should wash their hands regularly and cough and sneeze into tissues or their sleeves.
Jefferson County has a stockpile of 1,000 doses of anti-virus medication, and Clallam County has 2,500 doses that can be given to people infected with swine flu.
Locke declined to say if the Port Townsend woman received a dose of the medication.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
