42 more swine flu cases confirmed in Massachusetts
By Stephen Smith, Globe Staff
State disease investigators reported this morning that they have confirmed 42 additional cases of swine flu in Massachusetts, bringing to 235 the total number of illnesses identified since the virus arrived late last month.
Four of the patients with newly confirmed infections were hospitalized.
More than three-fourths of the cases in Massachusetts, reflecting findings nationwide, are in children and adolescents.
Middlesex County accounts for far more cases -- 130 -- than any other county in the state.
A top scientist for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, assessing the national outbreak of swine flu, declared this afternoon that "the worst may be over." But that's not true everywhere, Dr. Anne Schuchat said -- including in New England.
"In our New England region, we're still seeing an upsurge in influenza-like illness," said Schuchat, interim director for the CDC's science and public health program. Conversely, cases are subsiding in some regions, including the Midwest and Southwest.
"Just like weather, this is a local occurrence," Schuchat said, "and people need to stay in tune with what's happening in their local area."
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Elizabeth Cooney is a former
health reporter for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, where she also was a
business reporter and an editor. Earlier in her career, she edited medical
books and journals at Little, Brown, and worked for Boston magazine.Boston Globe Health and Science staff:
- Gideon Gil, Health and Science Editor
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