CHICAGO BRACES ITSELF FOR SWINE FLU OUTBREAK
Today, state health officials confirmed that nine people have probable cases of swine flu in Illinois. As a result of the possible outbreak in Chicagoland, three schools have closed. Kilmer Elementary in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood was one of the schools to close. The other two schools are in Kane County.
It is imperative that the flu be taken seriously as it has lead to death in other parts of the world. Schools closures are done in an effort to stop the transmission of the flu from student to student.
Chicago Public Schools CEO Ron Huberman says Kilmer Elementary will be closed for at least 48 hours, possibly more, after a student of the school is considered to have one of the probable cases. The student is a 12-year-old girl who is hospitalized, but her condition appears to be improving according to Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Damon T. Arnold.
Swine flu cases are erupting worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) raised the alert level to a phase 4, two levels short of declaring a full pandemic.
The other probable cases in Chicagoland include: a 25-year-old Lake View man, a 36-year-old Woodlawn woman; a 20-year-old of undisclosed gender from Roger's Park; and a 35-year-old Hegewisch woman. The suburban cases are a 27-year-old Elmhurst man, a 12-year-old Kane County girl, an 18-year-old Geneva man, and a 6-year-old Lake County girl.
By "probable," Arnold said the state means the person exhibits the symptoms of the flu, and preliminary testing has ruled out other known flu viruses -- but the actual swine flu virus has not yet been confirmed. However, Arnold said these cases are 99 percent likely to be actual swine flu.
