Despite the first official death of a U.S. resident from the H1N1 influenza--aka, swine flu--the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that school systems and childcare facilities stay open; instead, in the no-brainer of all no-brainers, the organization recommends that anyone with flu-like symptoms--students, faculty or staff--remain at home to rest.
This seems to truly drive the point home that all of the hype over the swine flu has been just that--hype. While the CDC has reported 403 cases of the disease in 38 states overall--and a "big bump" in the number of cases is expected after more lab tests are performed and the Southern Hemisphere enters its flu season.
Still, I guess more hype is better than no hype at all, considering the outbreaks of SARS and avian flu in previous years. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is happy with the CDC's work thus far, although she said that not enough is known about the virus.
For more information:
- read this Modern Healthcare article
- check out this article