Montgomery Co. girds for return of swine flu

Montgomery County is gearing up for a return of the swine flu in the fall, potentially in a more dangerous form than the mild outbreak the county saw in the spring.

“I fully do expect to see it again,” said county Health Officer Dr. Ulder Tillman. “What is totally unpredictable is whether it’s going to mutate to be milder or mutate to be more severe.

“One does not know that, so one has to continue to be vigilant,” she added.

The county will participate in a statewide immunization against seasonal flu in the fall, Tillman said.

Details about funding and accessibility are still being worked out, but Tillman said the goal would be to give all county children ages 5 to 11 access to seasonal flu vaccinations. Children that age can quickly spread disease, she said.

“If you can decrease the spread of seasonal flu, then you are also reducing the chances of having this ... mutation of [the swine flu],” Tillman said.

A swine flu vaccine is not widely available.

Montgomery County was one of the earliest areas in the region to have swine flu cases in late April. County officials moved quickly, hoping to prevent a widespread outbreak.

The county set up an informational hot line and closed Rockville High School, where one student had one of the earliest known cases of the flu, for a week.

The county’s Department of Health and Human Services spent about $114,000 in overtime and other costs during the 10 days when the flu hit the county, Tillman said.

Symptoms of the swine flu were mostly mild, and public concern about the virus quickly faded.