Five more cases of new flu confirmed in Las Vegas

By Mary Manning

Wednesday, May 13, 2009 | 12:38 p.m.

The Southern Nevada Health District said today that five cases of the new Type A H1N1 flu have been confirmed in Las Vegas.

The total number of confirmed cases of the unusual influenza is 14 in Clark County, said Stephanie Bethel, spokeswoman for the Southern Nevada Health District. So far that makes 21 total confirmed cases in Nevada for the flu strain, which combines swine, bird and human viruses.

The latest samples were confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the Southern Nevada Public Health Laboratory, which has received its certification to verify test samples, Bethel said.

The most recent confirmed cases include a 5-year-old girl, a 7-year-old boy, a 10-year-old boy, a 14-year-old boy and a 45-year-old woman, according to a statement issued by the health district.

All five had a mild form of the illness, three are fully recovered and none had to be hospitalized, Bethel said. One case tested did not meet the case definition and is not a confirmed H1N1 influenza case.

Before the latest confirmed cases, the health district received confirmation that five school-age children and two adults had become infected with H1N1 influenza. All seven cases have recovered and none were hospitalized.

Southern Nevada's first reported confirmed cases occurred in an 11-year-old boy who has recovered and a 39-year-old woman who was hospitalized and has since been released.

More than 3,000 cases of the new flu strain have been confirmed in 44 states, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, interim deputy director for science and public health program at the Centers for Disease Control.

There have been three deaths in the United States, two in Texas and one in Washington state, Schuchat said. Those who died from complications accompanying the flu had underlying health problems, she said.

Federal, state, local and international researchers have found that the new strain of flu emerged in mid February, able to infect people and allow people to transmit the virus, Schuchat said. Mexico began reporting cases in March and April.

The flu primarily affects younger people under the age of 18 years, Schuchat said. The United States considers the flu has spread nationwide and cannot contain it, she said. "We wish we knew what would happen in the fall," Schuchat said, noting that health officials will face seasonal flu circulating in the autumn and winter months.