It's Heeere! Swine Flu is hitting Rochester, NY

Yes, H1N1 is here. It has recently started to spread. "Doctors are warning swine flu cases could peak in the next three to four weeks."

“We're in a bit of a quandary because the vaccine isn't large scale. Many high risk kids haven't been vaccinated before this hits,” said Dr. Neil Herendeen of Golisano Children's Hospital. “Most people are going to do well. They'll get through this with mild symptoms."

The increase was seen in hospitals as employee call-ins jumped. "Rochester’s largest hospitals are implementing policies that limit younger visitors access as a way to protect vulnerable populations from the H1N1 virus. Strong Memorial and Highland hospitals enacted similar restrictions today. At Strong, visitors 17 and younger are prohibited from the obstetric floor and from Golisano Children’s Hospital. Other area hospitals are following suit."

"Several local schools are reporting an increase of the number of students with flu-like symptoms, and local college campuses are also concerned about the spread of swine flu.Monroe Community College says its exposure to the swine flu virus has been minimal." "Some school districts, Pittsford, Penfield and Canandaigua have sent letters home to parents saying they've seen an increase in kids out with flu like symptoms. Rush-Henrietta says two of their schools have a 15 and 16 percent absentee rate. The rest are normal. Greece and Brockport schools report a normal absentee rate. The U of R has the highest number so far with 91 cases and seven students asked to stay in their rooms. At RIT, 14 cases and Nazareth has 25 cases to date."

Just a reminder that Monroe county is no longer counting flu cases, (at lest not publicly), so we won't know how many have the h1n1, or know of deaths in our area.


Related Topics..

Flu Hits Canandaigua Schools Hard, but remains open

Get Flu information from Flu.gov

New York suspends mandatory flu shots