Officials confirm one swine flu case in Danville

The Pittsylvania-Danville Health District confirmed a local case of the H1N1 “swine flu” in a Danville child Tuesday, according to the Virginia Department of Health. 

Because the virus is being compared to the seasonal flu, local health director Dr. Charles Devine advised residents to continue protecting themselves against the virus through standard flu precautions.

“The way the flu has been behaving, we fully expect that we have cases in both the city and the county (that we don’t know about),” Devine said.

He could not give any more details about the confirmed case, including the child’s age and gender.

Health department officials are interested in hospital cases to get an idea of the virus’ severity, Devine said. Because H1N1 has produced an illness on par with the seasonal influenza, he said most people who get it do not become ill enough to see a doctor.

“We are not making any effort to confirm every case; there’s no point in doing that,” he said. “What we want to know from a public health perspective is: Where is the illness and how severe is it overall?”

The state health department continues to monitor H1N1, with new cases confirmed each week. Most cases are not severe or life-threatening.

“We will continue to work very closely in our planning with federal, state and local partners to ensure that we are well prepared to help protect Virginians this summer and for the upcoming flu season in the fall,” State Health Commissioner Dr. Karen Remley said in a statement.

VDH provides information on positive test results at http://www.vdh.virginia.gov. The site is updated each Monday, Wednesday and Friday.