Suspected flu cases up
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Louisiana had no new confirmed cases of swine flu on Wednesday but the number of suspected cases continued to increase, state officials said.
Seven new samples were sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta for confirmation of the H1N1 virus on Wednesday, according to a news release from the state Department of Health and Hospitals.
That brings the total number of suspected cases in Louisiana to 34 in nine parishes.
The parishes and the number of suspected cases are: Lafayette, 22; Lafourche, 3; Iberia, 2; St. Landry, 2; Ascension, 1; Beauregard, 1; Livingston, 1; Orleans, 1 and St. Martin, 1.
The CDC has said it takes two to four days for its lab to complete testing on a sample because of the large volume of samples it is receiving from all over the United States.
There are seven confirmed cases of swine flu in Louisiana: five in Lafayette Parish, and one each in Ascension and Orleans parishes.
All of those with the flu are being treated at home with anti-viral medications, DHH said in the news release.
Also on Wednesday, St. Jude the Apostle Elementary School reopened, said Bill Michelet, a spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge.
“The CDC changed their stance on closing schools because of swine flu,” Michelet said.
“They told us, ‘If you closed based on what we said, open back up.’ So that’s what we did.”
St. Jude closed when a child tested positive for type A influenza. Swine flu is a subtype of type A influenza.
The sample was sent to the state. If the state cannot determine what viral strain of flu the child had, the sample will be sent to the CDC for confirmation of swine flu.
The state lab has received 1,507 samples for testing since the first presence of swine flu was known last week. That lab has tested 638 of the samples, DHH said Wednesday.
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