Swine flu information

The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department has provided updated information regarding influenza for families and schools. A Connect Ed telephone message was sent to families in English and Spanish with this information on May 4.

A checklist has been developed for families to help you identify whether or not your child may have the flu. Parents and caregivers are encouraged to check their family members daily, especially school-age children, for flu-like symptoms.

Updated guidance on school/daycare closures for H1N1 (swine flu) influenza in Pierce County is linked here.

Please call the Public Information Office at 253.571.1015, for assistance. 
 

What is swine flu?

Influenza A causes illness in humans and many animals. Some flu viruses are adapted to pigs and cause respiratory illness in them, and so have been called “swine flu,” but this flu is not transmitted from pigs to humans. It is transmitted person-to-person.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has determined that the swine flu virus causing mild illness in some states is the same strain as the virus causing an outbreak of respiratory illness among humans in some areas of Mexico.

Human symptoms for this new type of swine flu are similar to the symptoms of regular human flu that happens every year. These include: fever, cough and sore throat. In addition, fatigue, lack of appetite, runny nose, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea have been reported.

Swine flu is thought to spread the same way the seasonal flu spreads, mainly from person to person through coughing or sneezing of people with the flu. It may also be spread by touching something with the flu virus on it then touching their mouth or nose.

For more information, please contact the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department, 253.798.6500, www.tpchd.org.

Additional resources:

Swine flu fact sheet