Doctor Saw 22 Patients Before Falling Ill

Posted: 12:39 pm PDT April 30, 2009Updated: 4:27 pm PDT April 30, 2009
SEATTLE -- A pediatrician who is one of six people suspected of having swine flu in Washington state saw 22 patients and their parents earlier this week before falling ill, officials at The Everett Clinic said Thursday.

Snohomish County health officials held a media briefing about cases in the county.

County officials said a boy in Snohomish who is suspected of having swine flu is 3 years old. The boy doesn’t attend school.

The other Snohomish County case is a 34-year-old Lynnwood woman who had recently been to Mexico with her husband and two children.

Snohomish County said it updating people through its Web site, through Facebook and through Twitter. The county will also have a flu hotline at 425-388-5060.

In Seattle, Madrona K-8 school was closed for a week Thursday after one of its pupils was identified as among the six probable cases. See video of a news conference outside the school.

The state Health Department cautioned that more probable cases of flu might be found in Washington as additional tests are conducted.

Dr. Yuan-Po Tu, a medical director at the clinic based in Everett, 25 miles north of here, said the 36-year-old doctor from Seattle came to work Monday at the clinic's Mill Creek branch, midway between the two cities, with symptoms she thought were due to seasonal allergies.

VIDEO: Pediatrician At Everett Clinic May Have Swine Flu

Toward the end of the day, she fell ill, went to a local emergency room and later tested positive for influenza presumed to be swine flu, Tu said. The doctor's husband and two children have also come down with influenza-like illness, but are doing well on antiviral treatment.

"There's obviously a tremendous amount of anxiety and concern right now," Tu said. "We are in the midst of contacting all those 22 families, and that is our utmost priority, is taking care of our patients. Our phone lines right now are clearly busy."

Tu said the doctor and her family did not recently travel to Mexico, where the flu outbreak began. She also did not see patients the day before she fell ill, when she may have been infectious, he said.

Seattle Public Schools and Public Health-Seattle & King County said Madrona K-8 would be closed through Wednesday.

"We thought this was an important precaution," Dr. Jeff Duchin of the health agency told a Thursday morning news conference outside the school.

An 11-year-old student at the K-8 school had a cough and fever Monday and his mother kept him home, school officials said. He was later hospitalized and is recovering.

Duchin said no other cases had been found at Madrona and none of the six probable case in the state are connected.

Joan Rothrock, who volunteers once a week in a Madrona fourth-grade class, arrived at the school Thursday morning to find the doors closed and the school empty. "I think it's prudent. Better to be safe," she said.

Teachers stood at corners outside the school, notifying a few parents who had not heard about the closure.

Jon Hughes, vice president of Madrona K-8's PTSA, said his fifth-grade daughter has been in contact with the boy but he wasn't too worried.

"They all have lunch together and recess together, but she hasn't shown any symptoms," said Hughes, whose three kids attend the school. "As a parent, I was comfortable sending my kids back to school."

School district spokesman David Tucker said officials had planned to allow the school to remain open, but health investigators determined the infected boy may have been ill last Friday at the school.

State Health Department spokesman Tim Church said Thursday that it and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were continuing to test Washington samples for swine flu. The state is waiting for confirmation on the six suspected cases from the CDC.

Elsewhere in the region, health officials in Idaho have not confirmed any cases of swine flu but have alerted medical care providers to continue watching for flu-like illnesses. The state has tested 26 samples from sick people suspected of having the illness at the Idaho State Laboratory and all were negative. An additional 12 samples in Idaho are under investigation.

No confirmed cases have been reported in Oregon or Alaska, although Oregon officials planned to test 14 samples.

In Washington, three of the suspected cases, including the Seattle boy, are in King County, two are in Snohomish County, just north of King, and one is in Spokane County in Eastern Washington.

Dr. David Fleming, director and health officer for Public Health-Seattle & King County, said he expects the region will see more infections of the swine flu H1N1 virus.

The other King County case is a 27-year-old Seattle man, while the Snohomish County cases are a 6-year-old boy and a 34-year-old woman. Additional details on them were not immediately available.

The Spokane case involves a man in his 40s who recently traveled to California, the Spokesman-Review reported.

Spokane Regional Health District spokesman Pat Humphreys said Thursday that authorities have not made contact with the man, and don't know where he works or if he has children in school.

All schools and other public facilities in Spokane remained open. No decision has been made on whether to cancel this weekend's Bloomsday road race, which typically draws more than 40,000 people from all over the world.

Dr. Gary Goldbaum, Snohomish County Health District health officer, said Wednesday night there was no evidence schools in his county were affected.

Gov. Chris Gregoire urged calm Thursday, saying the health system is responding well and the public should not be alarmed.

"At this point, we would say carry your lives out like you do every single day," Gregoire said. "But do what you do in any flu season: take precautionary steps, and now, if you're feeling ill, be sure you see your health care provider."

The state expects to get about 230,000 additional doses of antiviral drugs from the federal government no later than May 3, she said.

State Secretary of Health Mary Selecky urged people to follow basic precautions to prevent spread of the disease, including covering coughs, washing their hands and staying home if they're sick.

In the U.S., the outbreak has hit 16 states with one confirmed death, a Mexican toddler who visited Texas with his family.

The Washington cases were discovered from among about 70 samples that have been sent so far to the state testing lab in Shoreline. Testing continues on dozens of those samples sent in since last weekend by hospitals, clinics and doctors.

Church said the overall flu season, which typically peaks in February, is tailing off. He said there has not been an abnormal number of flu cases for this time of year in the state.