H1N1 flu not found in county

There have been no confirmed cases of H1N1 flu in Plymouth County, but there have been 54 in Iowa.

Deb Steffen, Plymouth County public health nurse manager, Tuesday updated the Plymouth County Supervisors as to the status of H1N1.

The majority of confirmed cases have been in the central Iowa area with the most in Marshall County. There has been one in Des Moines County, Steffen said.

"What we've been seeing locally is unusual in that we're still having seasonal flu cases," Steffen said. "That's the case across Iowa."

Seasonal flu cases had decreased so much that the Iowa Department of Public Health was about to stop its surveillance, Steffen said.

"Then last week and this week the cases have begun to increase again," she said. "Those have primarily been influenza B, but it has similar symptoms to the H1N1 so it's got people concerned."

Symptoms with H1N1 influenza to watch for include fever greater than 100 degrees and recent onset of at least one of the following cough, sore throat, runny nose, nasal congestion.

Steffen said there have been cases of suspected H1N1 sent for testing from Plymouth County residents, but they've all come back as seasonal influenza.

"The biggest thing right now if, I'm understanding correctly, is that we're probably kind of to the end of it, but it's in the other hemisphere," said Supervisor Chairman Jim Henrich.

Steffen said officials are concerned as the flu virus heads into the southern hemisphere because the avian influenza has also been there.

"When you get two types of influenza in the area at the same time, it can mutate," Steffen said. "Avian influenza has a high death rate so if it would mutate, what we're seeing as a mild strain could change into a more lethal strain."

Right now the Food and Drug Administration and vaccine manufacturers are working to develop a vaccine for H1N1, but it takes time, Steffen said.

The antivirals Tamiflu and Relenza have been effective in treating the H1N1 symptoms especially within the first 48 hours of onset, Steffen said.

Those are available currently by prescription only, but the state does have a stockpile in Des Moines that it, along with the other states, received from the federal government, she said.

"When a county gets a confirmed case of H1N1, they ship 25 percent of their allotment to that county," Steffen said. "It's distributed between public health and the hospital and they decide at the local level where that is housed and how it's distributed."

If a case should be confirmed in Plymouth County, the antiviral would be here within 12 hours, Steffen said.

The best preventative measures people can take are washing their hands frequently, covering coughs with their sleeves and staying home if they are sick.