Three of the eight people recently diagnosed with the H1N1 ("swine flu") virus were staying at the Buddy Eller Center, a Ukiah homeless shelter, according to Mendocino County Public Health Officer Dr. Marvin Trotter.
The residents are all being given flu medication as a precaution, according to Executive Director Mark Rohloff of the Ford Street Project, which runs the shelter. Treatment started last night.
"The shelter is a place where people could be vulnerable, so this is natural," Rohloff said.
The shelter changed its policy for the residents who tested positive for swine flu so they could stay in the building during the day, rather than having to leave the facility with the rest of the shelter's residents, according to Rohloff.
"Just as if it was at a family camp or a jail, when we have a focus of people who test positive we look at that group very carefully and consider treating them to prevent a large outbreak," Trotter said.
The pandemic virus has spread worldwide. No one has died from swine flu in Mendocino County, according to Public Health Nurse Erika Nosera.
The Mendocino County Public Health and Human Services Agency announced Wednesday that six of the 12 people diagnosed with swine flu were hospitalized. Five were released, and one patient may be discharged this week.
The Mendocino County Community Health Services Branch of HHSA continues to get reports of flu-like symptoms with varying degrees of illness throughout the county.
Trotter and CHS Director Stacey Cryer said the H1N1 virus will continue to cause mild to severe sickness through the summer and into the annual flu season.
Tiffany Revelle can be reached at udjtr@pacific.net, or at 468-3523. To see more of The Ukiah Daily Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/. Copyright (c) 2009, The Ukiah Daily Journal, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
Copyright (C) 2009, The Ukiah Daily Journal, Calif.