Possible swine flu cases in Hawaii awaiting test results
| • | Mexico stabilizes as swine flu spreads |
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
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"A handful" of people in the Islands — including one arriving from Mexico — are being tested for swine flu, state health officials said yesterday.
None of the cases has been confirmed, state epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Park emphasized yesterday at a Capitol press conference.
The people are being tested in a two-stage procedure where their specimens are first tested at a clinical lab and then at the state laboratory. Park would not say exactly how many people are being tested.
The work of tracking down information on the patients requires "footwork," Park said. "It's entailing quite a bit of work."
As more cases of swine flu are popping up on the Mainland, some Hawai'i physicians are getting requests from patients for prescriptions for anti-viral flu medications, Park said.
Park implored people to stay calm and follow common-sense hygiene procedures.
"Please, please, please, do not stockpile," she said. "Do not engage in personal stockpiling at home. You're doing a disservice to the community. ... Once you use it, it's gone and it's not useful to you, your family or anyone else out there. Please, please, please do not stockpile at home."
The anti-viral medications treat flu in general. No vaccine has been developed for this new type of swine flu.
Dr. Chiyome Fukino, Hawai'i's health director, said there are 172,000 courses of anti-viral treatment on O'ahu. Hawai'i also has been pledged 186,000 more courses from the Strategic National Stockpile, she said.
Another 40,000 courses will be released by federal officials in three increments, with the first shipment scheduled to arrive May 3, Fukino said.
While Park discouraged people from seeking stockpiles of prescription anti-viral flu medications, she suggested they store at least 30 days worth of their normal medications for the possibility that swine flu could reach the Islands — potentially leading to calls for people to stay home.
For now, however, everyone should show up at work as usual and children should continue to attend school, Fukino said.
"We encourage you to allow your children to attend school and to go to work," Fukino said.
SENATOR CRITICIZES
State Sen. Mike Gabbard, D-19th (Kapolei, Makakilo, Waikele) said yesterday that the state needs to put on "a full-court press" at its airports to make sure swine flu does not enter the Islands.
He wants state officials to:
On Monday, Gov. Linda Lingle urged residents to remain calm but vigilant and to be prepared in the event that swine flu makes its way to Hawai'i.
But Gabbard yesterday called Lingle's response to the outbreak too passive.
"An ounce of prevention is going to be worth many, many tons of the cure," Gabbard said. "We can and must do more."
In response, state transportation director Brennon Morioka said, "We are doing everything that we have planned for. ... We believe that we are ready to address any form of condition or situation that might arise. We should not be overreacting to a threat that we believe is currently manageable here in the state."
'AHEAD OF THE GAME'
Hawai'i does have a pilot project with three international flights to have passengers fill out a questionnaire, Park said.
And the state Health Department yesterday unveiled a new swine flu information line for callers to get up-to-date information.
On a conference call yesterday with her counterparts on the Mainland, Park was told that Mainland airports do not have the diagnostic capability to screen arriving passengers suspected of being ill.
But Honolulu International Airport does.
"Hawai'i, in effect, is actually way ahead of the game in terms of our surveillance compared to other states," Park said. "We're the only state that does have any surveillance at all at the airports. ... We're the only one that has diagnostic capacity."
The system relies on airline crews to identify potentially ill passengers. Hawai'i health and transportation officials are now working to develop similar procedures for arriving cruise ship passengers.
Park did acknowledge that the system "is not a wall. ... Surveillance is not a barrier."
Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.
