Southeast sees bump in swine flu

By Craig Schneider

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The United States is seeing a bump in swine flu cases, with the majority occurring in the Southeast, where students returned to school earlier than other parts of the country, federal health officials said Wednesday.

Hundreds of thousands of children returned to Georgia schools Aug. 10, weeks ahead of much of the nation, and officials and parents say they are already seeing swine flu spread among children.

The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the Southeast was the only region in the country that saw elevated levels of flulike illness in the week of Aug. 16 to 22, the latest information available. Federal officials say that virtually all the flu activity in the United States at this time is believed to be swine flu, since seasonal flu hits mainly in the fall and winter.

“It’s due to kids going back to school,” CDC spokesman Joe Quimby said.

The CDC does not have exact figures on this uptick in swine flu, as state and federal labs have largely stopped testing for the illness that is treated the same as common flu. But they say that designated hospitals, health centers and schools across the country regularly report activity to the CDC.

Health officials say the schools are a good breeding ground for the virus because of children being in close proximity for long periods of time.

Many metro Atlanta schools are taking precautions to prevent the spread of the virus, including stressing hand washing and good coughing hygiene. A swine flu vaccine is expected to be distributed in October.

Some metro pediatricians report a jump in the number of young patients they are seeing with flulike symptoms.

Staff writer Shelia M. Poole contributed to this article.