Swine Flu Eruption Expands

NBC 4: Officials confirmed two cases of H1N1 in Franklin County Saturday. Health officials said the patients are both men, ages 33 and 31. They have been treated and are recovering at home.

Early Friday, officials confirmed a new probable H1N1 influenza case and negated another. It is unclear if the probable H1N1 case was the patient confirmed on Saturday. Columbus Public Health and the Franklin County Health Department said approximately 50 people were exposed to the Ohio State Medical Center employee who was confirmed a probable case Wednesday.

That included the five Columbus firefighters who were exposed to the probable case Monday. Those firefighters were assisting another paramedic unit with unloading a male patient in the emergency room. The firefighters are on medication. Officials said two or perhaps three people of the exposed 50 were showing symptoms of H1N1 Friday.

The Columbus firefighters weren’t among those showing symptoms. In total, Franklin County still had two probable cases of H1N1 Friday and two or possibly three suspected cases. To put some of that in perspective, 478 people died from seasonal flu in Franklin County this past fall, and it was considered a mild flu season.

Late Friday, OSU officials say a student was diagnosed with a probable case of H1N1 in Stradley Hall. According to the university, the student was exposed to the virus outside the university through close contact with family members that were believed to have the H1N1 virus. The student is a 19-year-old male, freshman and a resident of Stradley Hall. The university is following recommended precautions to prevent the spread of the illness to others.

Friday morning, the student developed symptoms of the virus. A preliminary test came back negative for H1N1, but those tests are only 60 percent accurate, so he was moved to another location for isolation and is being treated and monitored. According to OSU media relations, Stradley Hall is being disinfected and hand sanitizer placed around the building in light of the probable H1N1 case.

The university is communicating with the 450 residents of Stradley Hall. In addition, individuals who had close contact with the student over the last two days are being notified. The student health center is offering preventive medication to those individuals. The Wilce Student Health Center, 1875 Millikin Rd., will hold clinic hours for students tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Students also can call the clinic’s advice nurse line at 614-292-4321.