COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Health officials said two more cases of swine flu have
been confirmed in Ohio, bringing the total in the state to five.
The state Health Department said Tuesday the new cases were in northeast Ohio's
Portage and Holmes counties. Both involved 39-year-old women.
The woman in Portage county had recently traveled to southern California and
became ill. Officials said she stayed home for a week and has recovered. The
woman in Holmes County became ill after returning from a vacation in Mexico but
is recovering.
Bret Atkins, spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Health said, "Along with
those five we have two probably, which means that testing is not complete and we
also have just 35 suspect cases."
There are no confirmed cases of H1N1 in our immediate area, but the Greene
County Combined Health District as well as the Warren County Health Department
are investigating possible cases of the virus.
We're about a week into this outbreak and health officials said some people may
have let down their guard.
Health experts said you should continue frequent hand washing to protect
yourself and your family from H1N1 and other illnesses. "Teach those around us
good cough etiquette and sneeze etiquette. It's very important, so while we are
moving to what may be a slower phase of things, it's still very important to
keep that individual vigilance up," said Atkins.
U.S. Health officials are no longer recommending that schools close because of
the H1N1 Flu. The government last week advised schools to shut down for about
two weeks if there were suspected cases. Hundreds of schools around the country
have followed that advice and cancelled classes.
The Health and Human Services Secretary now says the H1N1 Flu is milder than
initially feared and the government is changing its advice on closing schools.
Source : WHIOTV.com
