Swine Flu Updates: Wednesday

The first victim in the U.S. to die from the Swine Flu was a 22 month old Mexican boy who was visiting relatives in Texas.

The number of U.S. confirmed cases stood at 91 late Tuesday, but hundreds more suspected cases are awaiting test results. As one U.S. official said, "these numbers are outdated about the same time they are announced."

Confirmed cases include: 51 cases in New York, 16 in Texas, 14 in California, and cases in Massachusetts, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, Indiana, Kansas and Ohio.

Illinois has 9 more suspected cases.

Over 100 schools have been closed in the U.S. from the Swine Flu. 74 of those schools closed because of confirmed or probable cases of Swine Flu. The CDC is recommending schools close for 7 days if a student or staff member gets sick.

Deaths in Mexico attributed to Swine Flu has risen to 160, but at the same time they now claim the 20 confirmed deaths from Swine Flu are actually 7. Over 2500 Mexican cases of Swine Flu have been reported, with approx. 1300 people still hospitalized.

Update 3:30PM CDT:

"The World Health Organization prepared to raise the pandemic threat level from swine flu to phase 5 on Wednesday...

"Things are moving fast," a WHO source told Reuters.

Nearly a week after the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, first emerged in California and Texas and was found to have caused deaths in Mexico, Spain reported the first case in Europe of swine flu in a person who had not been to Mexico, illustrating the danger of person-to-person transmission.

Phase 5 is the WHO's second highest level of warning that a pandemic, or global outbreak of a serious new illness, is imminent.

"It is clear that the virus is spreading and we don't see evidence of it slowing down at this point," Dr. Keiji Fukuda, WHO acting assistant director-general, told a news briefing."

UPDATE 3:37PM CDT:

The WHO has indeed increased the threat level to 5, saying a pandemic is imminent.

Update 4:15PM CDT:

If you're the type of person who would feel safer wearing a surgical facemask, you should probably pick some up now as they're starting to become hard to find.

Update 4:31PM CDT:

Two young brothers in Massachusetts have been confirmed with Swine Flu. However, as with most U.S. cases so far, the infected visited Mexico recently. Other than the case in Spain where the sick person did not go to Mexico, it is unknown if any U.S. confirmed case did not visit Mexico. I personally have read several hundred articles the last few days and haven't read any saying a U.S. person who is sick didn't visit Mexico. At the least, the reports do not mention either way.

A St. Louis newspaper warns people not to get scammed by people selling products to protect you from Swine Flu. Follow the CDC guidelines instead, posted at the top right of this site. The main way to stay protected is to wash your hands frequently and avoid touching other people right now.

Update 5:01PM CDT:

20 suspected cases in Miami-Dade County.