CDC To Study H1N1 Spread in the City of Decatur
September 30, 2009 | 7:00 amFrom Decatur PD’s Juanchella Francis…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are leading an investigation on the spread of influenza-like illness in the City of Decatur. The state of Georgia experienced early cases of H1N1 and they want to evaluate the extent of disease in the community. The investigation will allow them to rapidly direct public health messages to the rest of the U.S. regarding influenza.
On Thursday, September 24th, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention started surveying a random sample of households in the City of Decatur and hope to finish the investigation within 1 to 2 weeks. Eight teams of 2 people each will conduct the surveys.
This type of investigation is generally considered an emergency public health response. Therefore, no door-to-door solicitation permit is required.
I wonder if viruses spread differently in more interactive communities like Decatur and say a Gwinnett subdivision. Less interaction could be beneficial for once. But that’s only true if your kids are home-schooled!
So it’s all going to be self-reported? I wonder how they’ll verify whether self-reports of swine flu are valid. I’ve heard about so many people who claim they were deadly sick and finally went to get tested and were negative for all flu types. I think there’s so much hype surrounding this illness that every 3rd person who had to stay home sick diagnosed themselves with swine flu.
I was under the impression that doctor’s offices were not testing for swine flu and only those who were hospitalized had their diagnosis verified by testing?
My understanding is that he influenza A rapid tests in doctor’s offices can result in false positives and false negatives so the diagnosis is made more by clinical symptoms and course. Both the CDC and state health department have websites that can help with the signs and symptoms of flu. Normally, flu-like illness in August and September might very well not be influenza illness because the usual seasonal appearance of flu is later, but this year is different.
The survey CDC is doing now will probably be just one of many surveys and studies so it will be the entire weight of the evidence from which they draw conclusions, not just any one observational study with its inherent limits.
My son’s pediatrician diagnosed him with H1N1 based on the symptoms.