What's Going Around: Swine flu cases leveling off
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A nurse prepares a dose of the H1N1 vaccination at the Eastern Michigan Convocation Center on Nov. 5.
Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com
"We still are seeing the flu, but it has definitely plateaued, and the cases are also milder," Briggson said today during our weekly phone call. "A couple of weeks ago it was more obvious, with the fever that really knocks you out."
Call volumes at CHA peaked the last week in October with about 6,400 calls. Last week they received about 5,300 calls, and this week is on target to decrease again.
CHA's average for this time of year is about 4,000 calls per week.
In addition to H1N1, Briggson said they are seeing some croup, some upper respiratory infections and possibly some seasonal flu.
There is still a lot of concern about how to get the H1N1 vaccine, Briggson said.
This story has information on the next vaccine clinic, Saturday, Nov. 14 at Pioneer High School.
"What's Going Around" is a weekly series looking at what illnesses are circulating among kids in the community. Jen Eyer is on the Community Team at AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at 734-623-2577 or jeneyer@annarbor.com, or you can visit her at 301 East Liberty.
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If H1N1 is plateauing, why are so many more kids absent from school now than two weeks ago? Perhaps it would have been good for this reporter to contact other local pediatric clinics, such as Liberty Pediatrics and Chelsea's Moore Pediatrics, to get other views than just from one clinic.
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Posted Nov 12 2009
Hi Ana-
Thanks for your comment. We have another story on the site that has statistics from the Washtenaw County Health Department that say the same thing: Cases have declined in the past week.
It also says: "The number of cases of illness reported in the schools dropped to just more than 60 students out sick per 1,000 students last week from about 70 students per 1,000 students the previous week."
Every week I check in with CHA for this little "What's Going Around" piece because they are one of the largest in the area. While I have great respect for Liberty Pediatrics (my kids go there!), they see a fraction of the patients that CHA does. What happens at CHA is pretty indicative of what's going on in the pediatric community at large.
Thanks again for reading!
AnnArbor.com Staff
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Posted Nov 12 2009