H1N1 (Swine) Flu Updates

Florida Flu Information Line 1-877-352-3581

To prevent catching the disease

Wash hands frequently to lessen the spread of respiratory illness.
People with respiratory illness should stay home from work or school to avoid spreading infections, including influenza, to others in the community.
Avoid close contact with people who are coughing or otherwise appear ill.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
People experiencing cough, fever and fatigue, possibly along with diarrhea and vomiting, should contact their physician.
The symptoms of swine flu in people are similar to the symptoms of regular human flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue.

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November 13, 2009

1054 hospitalizations in persons with lab confirmed H1N1.
160 deaths reported with lab confirmed H1N1. ·
Overall mortality with influenza or pneumonia is slightly above the expected value for the time of year.

Widespread influenza activity is being reported in five Florida counties. The number of counties reporting widespread activity has stabilized over the past several weeks. There is no evidence that the virus has changed to a more virulent form, either in Florida, the rest of the U.S., or elsewhere in the world. read more

November 5, 2009

Significant developments reported today: 1008 hospitalizations of people with lab-confirmed H1N1 149 deaths reported with lab-confirmed H1N1 The death rate of people with influenza or pneumonia is slightly higher than expected for this time of year, read more

October 23, 2009

Please visit AWI’s Emergency Web site at http://emergency.awiadministration.com/ for regularly updated information. If urgent issues arise that directly relate to our agency or our operations, we will notify you immediately.

Significant developments today:

965 hospitalizations of people with lab-confirmed H1N1.
139 deaths reported with lab-confirmed H1N1.
The death rate of people with influenza or pneumonia is slightly higher than expected for this time of year.

September 23, 2009

The Centers for Disease Control and prevention has reported that the clinical trials for the H1N1 Flu vaccine for healthy adults are going well with no adverse side effects among those tested.

The Centers for Disease Control and Health and Human Services recently announced that healthy adults will require just one dose of the vaccine.

Florida Flu Information Line - 1-877-352-3581. The information line is available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EDT, seven days a week. Information is available in English, Spanish and Creole.

Additional laboratory confirmed H1N1 Swine Flu deaths have been verified in the following: A 28-year-old male in Brevard County, a 37-year-old male in Duval County, a 54-year-old male in St. Johns County, and a 49-year-old male in St. Lucie County. While most cases of H1N1 Swine Flu are mild, there are exceptions. Pre-existing health conditions often play a role in how individuals react to the flu. To-date, there have been 91 laboratory confirmed H1N1 Swine Flu deaths in Florida.

"Our hearts and prayers go out to the family and friends of these individuals, " said Surgeon General Dr. Ana Viamonte Ros. " H1N1 Swine Flu, like seasonal flu, can in some circumstances be very serious, therefore, all of us should continue to adhere to good health practices including, stay home if sick, cover cough and sneeze, and wash hands frequently."

The Department of Health continues its enhanced surveillance and outreach to physicians, hospitals, and other health care professionals. The surveillance system, consisting of sentinel physicians reporting influenza activity, DOH laboratories receiving specimens from physicians and hospitals, and our ability to monitor emergency room cases is fully operational. We have activated our response plan and are ready to respond if needed.

The World Health Organization (WHO) alert level is at Phase 6 "pandemic." The pandemic (WHO level 6) status is based on geographic distribution and not the severity of swine flu. In effect the WHO is saying that swine flu H1N1 is now circulating world-wide.

September 9, 2009

Additional laboratory confirmed H1N1 Swine Flu deaths have been verified in the following: an 8-month-old male in Broward County, a 9-month-old male in Duval County, a 52-year-old female in Orange County, a 33-year-old female in Palm Beach County, a 20-year-old male in Pinellas County, a 23-year-old male in St. Lucie County, and a 51-year-old male in St. Lucie County. While most cases of H1N1 Swine Flu are mild, there are exceptions. Pre-existing health conditions often play a role in how individuals react to the flu. To-date, there have been 77 laboratory confirmed H1N1 Swine Flu deaths in Florida.

August 12, 2009

Additional laboratory confirmed H1N1 Swine Flu deaths have been verified in that of the following: A 33-year-old male in Broward County, a 59-year-old female in Miami-Dade County, a a 73-year-old male in Miami-Dade County, a 50-year-old male in Hillsborough County, a 36-year-old male in Pinellas County, an 18-year-old female in Seminole County , and a 21-year-old male in Walton County. While most cases of H1N1 Swine Flu are mild, there are exceptions. Pre-existing health conditions often play a role in how individuals react to the flu. To-date, there have been 48 laboratory confirmed H1N1 Swine Flu deaths in Florida.

All four Department of Health laboratories have received testing supplies from the Center for Diseases Control and can test samples to confirm H1N1 Swine Flu. This testing capability allows the Department to expedite results as we no longer need to send probable cases to CDC laboratories.

The Department of Health continues enhanced surveillance and outreach to physicians, hospitals and other health care professionals. The surveillance system, consisting of sentinel physicians, reporting influenza activity, DOH laboratories receiving specimens from physicians and hospitals and our ability to monitor emergency room cases and over-the-counter drug sales is fully operational. We have activated our response plan and are ready to respond if needed.

Department of Health continues its enhanced surveillance with a network of sentinel physician providers. These providers send selected samples of laboratory specimens to state laboratories for testing if they have patients with influenza like illness (ILI). These physicians also continue to report weekly ILI cases to the Department of Health.

August 5, 2009

Additional laboratory confirmed H1N1 Swine Flu deaths have been verified in that of the following: A 27-year-old female in Osceola County, a 28-year-old female in Hillsborough County, a 25-year-old female in Orange County, a 70-year-old female in Orange County, a 45-year-old female in Dade County, a 53-year-old male in Dade County, a 60-year-old male in Dade County, a 65-year-old male in Dade County, and a 53-year-old male in Lee County. While most cases of H1N1 Swine Flu are mild, there are exceptions. Pre-existing health conditions often play a role in how individuals react to the flu. To date, there have been 41 laboratory confirmed H1N1 Swine Flu deaths in Florida.

Department of Health continues its enhanced surveillance with a network of sentinel physician providers. These providers send selected samples of laboratory specimens to state laboratories for testing if they have patients with influenza-like illness (ILI). These physicians also continue to report weekly ILI cases to the Department of Health.

July 30, 2009

Eight new laboratory confirmed H1N1 Swine Flu deaths have been verified in that of the following: a 90-year-old male in Palm Beach County, a 57-year-old male in Dade County, a 47-year-old male in Dade County, a 3-year-old female in Dade, a 59-year-old in Broward County, a 49-year-old male in Broward, a 44-year-old male in Hillsborough County, and a 49-year-old male in Hillsborough County. While most cases of H1N1 Swine Flu are mild, there are exceptions. Pre-existing health condition often play a role in how individuals react to the flu. To date, there have been 31 laboratory-confirmed H1N1 Swine Flu deaths in Florida.

"Our hearts and prayers go out to the families and friends of these individuals, " said Surgeon General Dr. Ana Viamonte Ros. " H1N1 Swine Flu, like seasonal flu, can in some circumstances be very serious; therefore, all of us should continue to adhere to good health practices including stay home if sick, cover cough and sneeze, and wash hands frequently."

The Department of Health continues enhanced surveillance and outreach to physicians, hospitals and other health care professionals. The surveillance system consisting of sentinel physicians reporting influenza activity, DOH laboratories receiving specimens from physicians and hospitals and DOH's ability to monitor emergency room cases and over-the-counter drug sales is fully operational. DOH has activated its response plan and is ready to respond if needed.

Florida currently has listed 3321 confirmed cases of H1N1 Swine Flu.

July 14, 2009

Today we were informed of a confirmed case of H1N1 Swine Flu in an employee of a One-Stop Career Center located in Broward County. The state Department of Health has been notified and the employee is recovering at home. As the state of Florida currently has approximately 1,784 confirmed cases of Swine Flu, this occurrence impacting our Agency and partners serves as a reminder to all of us to take necessary steps to protect our own health as well as the health of our co-workers and families, including:

Stay home when you are sick

Stay home from work, child care, school, and errands when you are sick, except to seek medical care. Keep sick children at home except to seek medical care. You will help prevent others from catching the illness.

Wash your hands often

Washing your hands and the hands of your children often will help protect you and them from germs.

Avoid close contact.

Avoid close contact with people who are sick. When you are sick, keep your distance from others to protect them from getting sick too.

Cover your nose and mouth.

Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs are often spread when a person touches something that is contaminated with germs and then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth. Practice other good health habits. Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food.

Please visit the state’s special H1N1 webpage at http://www.doh.state.fl.us/DEMO/php/FluInfo.htm or AWI’s Emergency Website at http://emergency.awiadministration.com/ for additional information.

June 24, 2009

A second laboratory-confirmed H1N1 Swine Flu death has been confirmed in that of a 30-year-old female in Seminole County. Florida's first confirmed death in mid-June was a 9-year-old Miami-Dade County resident. While most cases of H1N1 Swine Flu are mild, there are exceptions. Pre-existing health condition often play a role in how individuals react to the flu.

"Our hearts and prayers go out to the family and friends of these individuals." said Surgeon General Dr. Ana Viamonte Ros. “All of us should continue to be alert and stay home if sick, cover your cough and sneeze, and wash hands frequently."

All four Department of Health laboratories have received testing supplies from the Center for Diseases Control and can test samples to confirm H1N1 Swine Flu. This testing capability allows the Department to expedite results as the Department no longer needs to send probable cases to CDC laboratories.

The Department of Health continues enhanced surveillance and outreach to physicians, hospitals and other health care professionals. The surveillance system, consisting of sentinel physicians, reporting influenza activity, DOH laboratories receiving specimens from physicians and hospitals and the Department’s ability to monitor emergency room cases and over-the-counter drug sales is fully operational. The Department has activated its response plan and is ready to respond if needed.

The Department of Health continues its enhanced surveillance with a network of sentinel physician providers. These providers send selected samples of laboratory specimens to state laboratories for testing if they have patients with influenza-like illness (ILI). These physicians also continue to report weekly ILI cases to the Department of Health.

Florida currently has 556 confirmed cases of H1N1 Swine Flu.

June 16, 2009

Today the Florida Department of Health confirmed the death of a 9-year-old male in Miami Dade from H1N1 Swine Flu. This is Florida’s first laboratory confirmed H1N1 Swine Flu death. "

Our hearts and prayers go out to the family and friends of this child," said Surgeon General Dr. Ana Viamonte Ros. "While most cases of H1N1 swine flu are mild, there are exceptions like this tragic case. Nationally, the CDC is reporting 45 deaths associated with Swine Flu, and as the flu progresses that number will unfortunately rise.

All of us should continue to be alert and stay home if sick, cover your cough and sneeze, and wash hands frequently." All four Department of Health laboratories have received testing supplies from the Center for Diseases Control and can test samples to confirm H1N1 Swine Flu. This testing capability allows the Department to expedite results as we no longer need to send probable cases to CDC laboratories.

Department of Health. Florida currently has 417 confirmed cases of H1N1 Swine Flu. The World Health Organization (WHO) alert level is at Phase 6 "pandemic." The pandemic (WHO level 6) status is based on geographic distribution and not the severity of swine flu. In effect the WHO is saying that swine flu H1N1 is now circulating world-wide.

May 15, 2009

Florida has 69 confirmed cases of H1N1 and currently no probable cases
There have been four deaths in the U.S. attributable to H1N1 – two in Texas, one in Arizona and one in Washington State

May 12, 2009

Given the current Public Health Emergency in Florida, we will be emailing to you a daily update by close of business Monday-Friday with the latest information regarding Swine (H1N1) Flu cases in our state.

Please visit the Agency for Workforce Innovation Emergency Website at http://emergency.awiadministration.com/ for updated information throughout the day. If urgent issues arise that directly relate to our Agency or our operations, we will notify you immediately. Significant developments today:

· Florida now has 54 confirmed cases of Swine Flu throughout Central and South Florida, as well as one confirmed case in Duval, for a total of 55 confirmed cases. There are four probable cases in Flagler, Palm Beach and Okaloosa Counties.

· The increase in confirmed cases is largely due to the clearing of a backlog of samples at the CDC and the ability of the Florida Department of Health to now conduct testing for H1N1 Swine Flu in-state to expedite results.

May 6, 2009

Florida has five confirmed cases in the following counties: two in Lee, one in Broward, one in Orange , and one in Pinellas.

Alachua, Flagler, Lee, Indian River, Okeechobee, Palm Beach, Seminole, and Clay have one probable case each. Miami Dade and Broward each has three. Hillsborough County has six probable cases.

CDC no longer recommends that communities with a laboratory confirmed case of influenza A H1N1 consider adopting school dismissal or childcare closure measures.

A public health emergency was declared by the State Surgeon General.

A toll free information line has been established to address an increasing number of calls from the public requesting Swine Flu information. The number is 1-800-342-3557 and it is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Samples are being received by Florida Department of Health Laboratories for analysis from physicians and hospitals across the state.

The Department of Health continues enhanced surveillance and outreach to physicians, hospitals and other health care professionals. The surveillance system, consisting of sentinel physicians reporting influenza activity, DOH laboratories receiving specimens from physicians and hospitals and our ability to monitor emergency room cases and over- the-counter drug sales is fully operational. We have activated our response plan and are ready to respond to any cases of swine flu if it should occur.

Department of Health continues its enhanced surveillance with a network of Sentinel Physician Providers. These providers send selected samples of laboratory specimens to state laboratories for testing if they have patients with influenza like illness (ILI). These physicians also continue to report weekly ILI cases to the Department of Health.

Antivirals have been pre-positioned to areas of potential need. We have over one half million individual courses.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 403 confirmed cases of novel influenza in the United States, with one death in a twenty-three month old.

The World Health Organization (WHO) alert level remains at Phase 5. The declaration of a Phase 5 is a strong signal that the pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short.

Participation in Centers for Disease Control and other national conference calls will continue.