Swine Flue Case Confirmed in Erie County

July 1, 2009

The Sandusky Register

 Erie County health officials reported the county's first confirmed case of swine flu this past week -- a 21-year-old seasonal worker at Cedar Point.

The woman has recovered from her bout with the illness, county health officials said.

"She's been cleared to resume work," said Pete Schade, commissioner at Erie County Health Department.

"(Cedar Point) is probably more on top of that kind of stuff than any other employer around. I don't have any cause for concern with how they handled it."

The woman is from Asia and working as a seasonal temp, Schade said.

It was Erie County's first confirmed case of H1N1, a flu strain that has triggered health concerns globally because it's a new strain for which people have little or no immunity.

There's no vaccination for this particular strain of virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As of Friday, the CDC reported there have been more than 27,700 confirmed cases of H1N1 in the U.S. since the disease was first reported in March.

Worldwide, there have been nearly 60,000 confirmed cases of the illness, at least 263 of which resulted in death, according to the World Health Organization's Web site.

There have been 127 deaths attributed to the illness in the U.S., a country that has reported the greatest number of infections from the disease.

The CDC also reported it anticipates an increase in the number of H1N1 cases in fall and winter this year, when the flu season goes full swing. Most people who have fallen ill with H1N1 have recovered without medical treatment.

There have been 100 confirmed H1N1 cases in Ohio, though none of those have resulted in death, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

Local cases include the 21-year-old woman in Erie County, a 3-year-old girl in Huron County, a 17-year-old girl in Ottawa County, and three cases in Lorain County where the subjects were males ages 9, 22 and 35.