La. prepares for possibility of swine flu

• By SANDY DAVIS
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Apr 29, 2009 - Page: 1A

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Eight flu specimens have been tested so far by Louisiana’s Department of Health and Hospitals laboratory in New Orleans for swine flu and all have proven to be negative for the disease that broke out recently in Mexico, a DHH spokeswoman said Tuesday.

So far, the state has been asked to pick up 19 nasal swab specimens and of those, the eight tested have been negative, said Lauren Mendes, a DHH spokeswoman.

“The number of suspected cases we have — cases that could not be confirmed by our lab and thus sent to the CDC for confirmation — is zero,” she said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta reported Tuesday there are 66 confirmed cases of swine flu in six states: California, New York, Kansas, Texas, Indiana and Ohio.

While there are no reported cases of swine flu in Louisiana, the state is aggressively monitoring for any suspected cases, Mendes said.

“Our statewide surveillance system was fully activated Friday night and we are staying in close contact with our sentinel physicians and hospitals.”

Sentinel physicians are private doctors who volunteer to serve as a front line of detection and assist any public health or infectious disease investigation.

Dr. Chad Braden, a family practice doctor for Ochsner Health Center-Bluebonnet in Baton Rouge, said Tuesday that doctors can test patients with flu-like symptoms by taking a nasal swab in the doctor’s office and the test results are ready within minutes.

The test will indicate whether a person has Type A or Type B influenza.

“If it is Type A influenza, we send the swab to the state for further testing,” he said. “But so far, we haven’t tested anyone here because no one has had flu-like symptoms since we found out about the swine flu.”

Mendes said swine flu is a subtype of Type A influenza.

“Those who test positive for Type A influenza could potentially have swine flu or just another subtype of influenza,” she said.

The nasal swab specimens that test positive for Type A influenza are sent to DHH’s state laboratory, where officials will try to determine what subtype of influenza it is, Mendes said.