Spring Break
Swine flu cases pass 100 but still mild
Lauran Neergaard The Associated Press
Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: News
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The administration stood solidly against closing the U.S.-Mexico border, with Vice President Joe Biden calling it "a monumental undertaking" that would do little good. Even so, the White House announced that an aide to Energy Secretary Steven Chu experienced flu-like symptoms during the president's recent trip to Mexico. Three members of the aide's family likely had the illness and have recovered.
Authorities noted the virus already has hit several states - including South Carolina, with 10 confirmed cases, and four cases confirmed so far among University of Delaware students. Closing the border now would be, as President Barack Obama put it Wednesday night, "akin to closing the barn door after the horses are out."
There have been schools closed in roughly 100 school systems, and Seattle and Huntsville, Ala., joined the list Thursday as officials awaited word on whether some sick children had the infection. Texas authorities suspended high school sports.
Biden reiterated on Thursday advice the administration has been eagerly dispensing: "A parent whose child's school is closed out of a precaution or because there's been a confirmed case of flu should not take the child then to a day care center. They're going to have to take them home."
"And the hope is that the employers will be generous in terms of how they treat that employee's necessary action of taking that child home and not being at work," he said.
At a congressional hearing, Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sought to strike a balance: No one knows what the never-before-seen virus ultimately will do, but so far in most U.S. cases people are recovering without even needing a doctor's care. The big message is to try not to spread infection.
"This is a time when we don't want the worried well flooding the emergency rooms," she said. "At no time in our nation's history have we been more prepared to face this kind of challenge."
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