Source:
http://www.courant.com/news/custom/t...,6941350.story
CONNECTICUT SWINE FLU
Swine Flu Case Suspected In Middlefield; New School Closings In Waterbury And Vernon
By DAVID OWENS, MARK SPENCER And ARIELLE LEVIN BECKER | The Hartford Courant
6:25 PM EDT, April 29, 2009
An elementary school student in Middlefield is the latest case of suspected swine flu in the state, according to the town's health director, and schools will be closed in Waterbury and Vernon because of another suspected case.
The Middlefield child's doctor is awaiting test results but is treating the child, who is doing well, said Dr. Matthew Huddleston, Middlefield's health director.
The child was in Mexico last week, during school vacation, and became ill over the weekend, Huddleston said.
"The child did not go to school, thank goodness," Huddleston said.
The child's physician and Huddleston are treating it as a case of suspected swine flu "given the travel history, given that she had influenza positive for type A," even though the case has not yet been confirmed as swine flu. Swine flu is a type A influenza.
Huddleston said he was notified about the case by the state Department of Public Health.
Elsewhere in the state, school officials in four communities have closed some schools in order to clean and sanitize school buildings as a precaution against swine flu.
Vernon announced Wednesday afternoon that its public schools will be closed Thursday and Friday. School officials said a person only identified as a "school member" had tested positive for flu and additional tests are being done.
In Waterbury, the superintendent announced the closure Thursday and Friday of the Rotella Magnet School after a student who'd recently traveled to Mexico fell ill. Superintendent David Snead said the school is being closed as a precaution. Custodians will sanitize the building while it is closed, Snead said.
In Wethersfield, the district closed all schools today so that custodians could continue their work, which they began Tuesday night, to clean and sanitize schools. Schools will remain closed Thursday, said Superintendent Michael Kohlhagen.
A Silas Deane Middle School employee recently returned from a trip to Mexico with flu-like symptoms, which prompted the decision to close the schools and conduct the thorough cleaning, Kohlhagen said. There is no evidence, however, that the staff member is suffering from swine flu.
"I'm looking to be very proactive and ultraconservative to ensure the continued health and safety of all of our staff and students," Kohlhagen said today, adding that district officials are in close contact with the state Department of Public Health.
Although the ill staff member works at Silas Deane Middle School, Kohlhagen ordered all schools cleaned as a further precaution. In addition to the middle school, the schools closed and undergoing a cleaning Wednesday include Wethersfield High School, Emerson-Williams, Hanmer, Highcrest, Web and Charles Wright elementary schools.
Students from Wethersfield and Vernon who attend magnet schools and special education programs run by the Capitol Region Education Council also are being asked to stay home.
Officials in East Haddam also closed schools today to clean them after two students — one in elementary school and one in middle school — became ill after returning from a family trip to Mexico. The schools will remain closed Thursday.
East Hampton, which had a dozen high school students and two adults travel to Mexico earlier this month, has opted not to close schools. Superintendent Judith A. Golden said Tuesday she had no information to lead her to believe any of the people who made the trip, leaving April 8 and returning April 17, have come down with swine flu. She could not be reached for comment today.
While there are two suspected cases of swine flu in the state, none has been confirmed. There are several other cases of flu-like illness undergoing preliminary testing at the state Department of Public Health lab, according to the governor's office. Elsewhere in the nation, the first death related to swine flu was reported in Texas, where health official say a 23-month-old child died of the disease.
Also today, Gov. M. Jodi Rell said she has directed the state Department of Public Health to distribute 10,000 treatment courses of antiviral medication to the state's acute-care hospitals.
While school and other government officials are taking seriously the emergence of swine flu in the U.S., people on the street in Old Wethersfield Wednesday morning were not too concerned and said they thought the issue was being hyped by the media.
A few did say they are taking the recommend precaution of washing their hands more frequently but are otherwise going about their daily routine without giving the swine-flu scare much thought.
Second District U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Vernon, has put swine flu information on his web page:
http://courtney.house.gov/flu/
Possible cases in connecticut
Stay well zwick.. I am 9 miles from one of the San Diego cases, so far so good. 
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