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Swine flu confirmed at UTEP News The Prospector University of Texas at El Paso

SwinefluconfirmedatUTEP
ByPamelaPrieto Published:Wednesday,June10,2009 Updated:Monday,January18,201010:01

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Lastweek,theUTEPStudentHealthCenterwaspresentedwithanewprobablecaseofthe H1N1virus.Thisisthefirstsuspectedcasesincefinalsweek,whentwoUTEPsamplestested positiveforthevirus. RobertMoss,UTEPdirectorofenvironmentalhealthandsafety,saidtheStudentHealthCenter sawanincreasednumberofpatientswithinfluenzalikeillnesssymptomsduringlateApriland earlyMay. "Culturesfromfivesuspectcases(thosewithfeverover100degrees)wereforwardedontothe Statelabforfurtherinvestigation,"Mosssaid. Headdedthatofthesefivesamples,"twocases,bothfromearlyintheweekofMay4,ultimately weredeterminedbythestatelabtobepositiveforthenovelH1N1virus." Thetwostudentshavesincerecuperatedwithoutneedforhospitalization.Anotherstudentwas reportedpositiveforH1N1bycityofficials,whoalertedUTEPthattheinfluenzaonsetappeared aftertheendoffinals. Lastweek'snewcasecontributestothe69otherprobablecasesinthecountyofElPaso,whichhasseenatotalnumberof171 confirmedcasesasofJune9.FivepeoplehavediedinthestateofTexasinrelationtotheH1N1virus,includingtwomenandone womanfromElPasoCounty,accordingtotheTexasDepartmentofStateHealth.ThemostrecentdeathwasconfirmedJune8. OnJune3,MirtaRosesPeriago,directorofthePanAmericanHealthOrganization,reportedmorethan19,000confirmedcases worldwideattheU.S.MexicoBorderHealthAssociation's67thannualmeetinghostedattheUGLC.AsofJune8,theWorldHealth Organizationreportedabout6,000morecaseshavebeenconfirmed. "It'saverydynamicsituation,"Periagosaid."It'sthefirstepidemicinhistorythatweseeasitevolves." Periagoaddedthatwhatwasunusualabouttheviruswasitsprominenceamongyoungergenerations.Whileitseemstohavepatterns ofequaldistributionamonggenders,theH1N1fluvirusappearstobemorepresentinyoungpopulations,especiallyadolescentsand youngadults. GiaLujan,sophomoresocialworkmajor,saidshehadheardaboutthetwoconfirmedUTEPcases."It'skindoffreaky,butit'snotasbig aseveryone'smakingitseem,"shesaid. Lujanaddedthat,inheropinion,theUniversityreactedtolastmonth'soutbreaksinaresponsiblemanner."UTEPshouldn'tmakeabig deal.It'sgoodtheydidn'tshutdownlikeeveryonewantedthemto." PeriagoandothercolleagueswhowerepresentattheUSMBHAmeetingagreedthatMexicoitself,despitemuchcriticism,haddonea goodjobofhandlingthepandemicandofkeepingthepublicawareofthesituation. Shestressedtheneedtounderstandthattheprogressionofpandemicphasesmeantareturntonormalcy,andthatanincreasein phasenumbersdidnotnecessarilymeananincreaseincaseoccurrencesorseverity. "Idon'tthinkthisistheworstdiseaseever,"saidChristianChavez,seniorfinancemajor."Youjusthavetobereadybecauseyoucan getinfectedeasily." Sincethediseaseistransmittedfrompersontoperson,itisimportantforpeopletowashtheirhandsfrequentlyandtocovertheir coughsandsneezeswiththeirarms,nottheirhands,Mosssaid. "Peopleshouldtakeproperprecautionstobemoresanitary,"saidJulioSaucedo,seniorhistoryandcriminaljusticemajor,addingthat hewishedtheUniversitywould'veprovidedstudentswithawideravailabilityofhandsanitizer."Really,theregularflukillsmorepeople
BobCorral

MicrobiologistBerthaCarrilloappliesthe suspectedfluspecimentoateststripat SierraMedicalCenter.

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Swine flu confirmed at UTEP News The Prospector University of Texas at El Paso

everyyear." Mossconcludedthatpeoplewhoarefeelingillshouldstayhomeorseeadoctortofurtherpreventthespreadofinfection.UTEP studentswhothinktheymayhavetheH1N1fluviruscangettestedattheStudentHealthCenterfreeofcharge. PamelaPrietomaybereachedatprospector@utep.edu.

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