“I am perfectly fine …,” she wrote in a comment she left on the Tracy Press Web site below a story about her.
She asked to withhold her identity.
“The media is making this out to be worse than it actually is,” she continued. “I have no idea where I could have gotten this from, as I have never been to Mexico and no one I know has been there also.”
Officials this week said they have stopped forcing schools to close if a student was found with a confirmed case of the swine flu. Several Bay Area schools and one in Linden will reopen today. Instead, San Joaquin County Public Health Services encourages anyone with the virus to stay home and urges everyone to practice good hygiene.
Officials in a press release this week also said that the Tracy woman’s infant daughter and an 8-year-old girl in Linden likely also had swine flu. All three people have fully recovered. State officials have yet to confirm whether they were even sickened with the swine flu.
The Tracy woman said her baby is fine, and that they’re both at home recovering. Her husband and son, who have been by her side since she took ill, haven’t been sickened by the virus, said the woman, who was tested late last week.
She said the swine flu “is no different than any other flu or cold.”
“They’re both doing fine,” agreed Roberto Alaniz, the senior deputy director of the county’s disease control and prevention division, about the mother and daughter.
Alaniz said that these tests usually take about two or three days, roughly the flu’s average lifespan. Probable cases are sent to the state’s laboratory to confirm that the patient has H1N1.
Alaniz said that patients are told to stay at home while they are sick. By the time the tests come back, the patients have usually recovered, he added.
The Tracy woman said that even though she has fully recovered, she plans to stay inside for a while. She encouraged everyone to wash their hands and cover their mouths when they cough.
“Of course, everyone is different and how their bodies react to colds … I hope no one in town gets this,” she said. “But if you do, stay home and call your doctor.”
As of Tuesday, there were 190 confirmed and suspected cases of swine flu in California. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been 403 confirmed cases and two deaths in the U.S.
• Tracy Press reporter Justin Lafferty contributed to this report. Contact a Tracy Press reporter or editor at 835-3030 or tpnews@tracypress.com.
149,764 known cases of AIDS in California today and do you think people are rushing out to buy condoms?
Just something to think about....
Glad to hear this lady is doing well.
Media induced mass hysteria sent lot of people with ordinary seasonal flu/cold to emergency room, most without health insurance... and services were still provided for.... at our loss!!
Am marveled at how well the media influences our attention and our reactions, what is the USA or the World not wanting us to look at during this so called "crisis"?
At least they will have been well prepared for true outbreak that threatens the existence of humanity... you could use that line, media!
"San Joaquin County Public Health Services encourages anyone with the virus to stay home and urges everyone to practice good hygiene."
Anyone who feels sick with the "FLU" ought to stay home, too. When in doubt on what kind of flu you have, go see the doctor to get checked.
In the meantime, take along alcohol based gel to rub on your hands before/after shopping. Keep your hands away from your face. Cough into your elbow. Not your hand, your hand could pick up something else (virus/viruses) and get transplanted to your face when coughing.
Alcohol based handwipes are helpful, too, wipe it on the handlebar of shopping carts.
When using public restrooms, use a tissue to open the door and this is what I do, I place my foot on the door after I open it with the tissue on the knob, toss the tissue back into the trash, and let the door go with my foot.
Tricks of nurses to stay healthy.