Nevada flu cases rising with 38 statewide; county has 25

By Mary Manning

Published Wednesday, May 20, 2009 | 6:05 p.m.

Updated Wednesday, May 20, 2009 | 6:47 p.m.

The number of Type A H1N1 influenza cases, also known as swine flu, are rising in Nevada with a total of 38 reported Wednesday, state and federal health officials said.

Clark County, including Las Vegas, has the most confirmed cases at 25, said Stephanie Bethel of the Southern Nevada Health District.

Washoe County, which includes Reno and Sparks, has 10, Carson City has two and Lyon County has one, said Martha Framsted, spokeswoman for the Nevada State Health Division.

Five of the new cases in Washoe are students at Mendive Middle School in Sparks, Davis said. One of the students has been hospitalized.

The Washoe County Health and school district officials with the State of Nevada Health Division have decided to close Mendive Middle School from Thursday through Monday to prevent spreading the H1N1 flu virus. This is the first school in Nevada to close because of the novel flu strain.

Two probable cases have not been confirmed as part of the novel flu which is sweeping the United States and other countries around the world.

Dr. Daniel Jernigan, deputy director of the influenza division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday during a teleconference that there are more than 10,000 cases worldwide in 41 countries.

Eight people have died in the United States since the new flu strain was recognized in April, Jernigan said. There are 247 people who have been hospitalized in the United States and 47 percent of them are between 19 and 49 years old, he said.

The H1N1 strain first appeared in 1918 and disappeared, the type replaced by H2N2 in 1957, Jernigan said. People younger than 50 years of age have little or no protection against the new strain which combines bits of bird, pig and human flu strains, he said.

While medical researchers are trying to develop a vaccine against the new flu before the fall influenza season, Jernigan said the novel strain could mutate by the time flu season arrives. In the case of the new flu, scientists are racing to prepare a vaccine by October at the latest and possibly earlier, he said.