Politicians and health officials in San Francisco are laying the groundwork to battle a full-scale swine flu crisis in the wake of The City’s first confirmed case Thursday.
After it was announced that one child in San Francisco has the illness and as the number of cases around the state climbed, Mayor Gavin Newsom asked the Board of Supervisors to declare a state of emergency.
The declaration allows The City to apply for federal funding and receive antiviral medication, should the health care system become overwhelmed. The state also declared an emergency Tuesday for swine flu, which many are calling H1N1.
City officials stressed that the declaration, which on Tuesday will go before the Board of Supervisors, is not intended to cause panic.
“It’s much easier to contain this influenza than it is to contain the panic it evokes,” Newsom said.
San Francisco Public Health Department Director Mitch Katz said he can understand why people may be fearful.
“This is from a foreign country. This is related to animals. This all sounds like a frightening science-fiction movie,” he said.
The strain of the illness that traveled to the U.S., however, appears to be mild, Katz said.
“Clearly we have epidemic spread, but we have epidemic spread of a nonserious infection,” he said.
San Francisco’s first swine flu patient had recently traveled to Mexico and is not attending school, health officials said. The state confirmed the case Thursday. The child was not hospitalized and family members have not been tested or quarantined, since they have not shown symptoms, Public Health spokeswoman Eileen Shields said. No further details were offered because of confidentiality obligations.
The City’s immediate concern is preventing an unnecessary overload of hospitals and clinics. Worried parents are taking their mildly ill or asymptomatic children to be tested for swine flu — something the Health Department does not recommend, Shields said.
Medical care should be sought only by those with serious symptoms, such as a fever higher than 101 degrees that will not come down, difficulty breathing and dehydration. People with mild symptoms are encouraged to recover at home, she said.
At California Pacific Medical Center, patients with flu symptoms were triaged, isolated and given rapid tests, said spokesman Kevin McCormack. Any positive flu tests were sent to the Public Health Department. So far, all flu cases at the hospital have been determined to be seasonal illnesses.
Schools and police remained in wait-and-see mode Thursday.
No campus closures have been scheduled, San Francisco Unified School District spokeswoman Gentle Blythe said. School officials, though, are urging parents to keep sick children at home. But, some parents believe any child who has recently recovered from flu
symptoms must produce a doctor’s note to return to class, she said.
“Their child doesn’t need a note,” Blythe said. “We welcome them back at school.”
However, Dr. Mark Horton, director of the California Department of Public Health, said the state is recommending schools with even one suspected case close for at least a week.
San Francisco police officers, who are being fitted with respirators this week, will hold off on wearing them until health officials think it’s necessary, said Sgt. Lyn Tomioka.
Virus stymies health officials
With swine flu fatalities paling in comparison to the death toll of common seasonal flu, one question is becoming increasingly common: Is hype fueling hysteria?
The problem, said California Public Health Department Director Dr. Mark Horton, is that very little is known about the new virus.
“It’s still early in the game,” he said. “Nationally, we’ve only seen 109 confirmed cases. That’s a very small amount of cases to generalize and predict how this is going to unfold. One of the major concerns is this is a novel virus. To our knowledge, humans have never been infected with this before.”
On Thursday, when San Francisco’s first case was confirmed, Mayor Gavin Newsom asked city supervisors to declare an emergency. At the same time, the mayor acknowledged that fear was harder to contain than the virus itself.
Like local officials, state health leaders are erring on the side of caution.
“I don’t think it represents hype to continue to be concerned and continue to monitor what we’re seeing,” Horton said. “We still have a lot of information to gain.”
Preparing for what’s next
The first confirmed case of swine flu in San Francisco was reported Thursday.
What: City officials will address how they will distribute antiviral medicine and other supplies in case of a full-scale swine flu outbreak
Why: If the swine flu continues to spread, The City will need to give out medicine, such as Tamiflu, that will help people fight off the illness and recover quicker
Importance: The question that has arisen is who will receive the medicine — the people who are sick, doctors and nurses, or first responders, such as police and firefighters?
When: A news conference will be held at 1 p.m. today
Examiner Staff Writer Brent Begin and wire services contributed to this report.
