A 10-year-old Sedro-Woolley girl has likely contracted swine flu, and at least 10 other people with Type A influenza in Skagit County are being tested to determine whether they have the seasonal flu or the highly contagious H1N1 strain, which originated in pigs. 

Among the 10 cases is a second elementary-aged girl who attends the same school — Skagit Adventist School in Burlington — as that of the first girl who probably has swine flu.

Also among the known suspect cases are five elderly people who have ties to a medical center in Anacortes, said Dr. Howard Leibrand, Skagit County health officer. Leibrand wouldn’t release the name of that facility Sunday night.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta reports 900-plus suspected and confirmed cases of the swine flu in 42 states as of Sunday afternoon, Leibrand said. Because 95 percent of suspected cases have turned out to be the H1N1 flu strain, dubbed swine flu, the CDC began to track both confirmed and probable cases. Only 30 people have been hospitalized nationwide.

In Washington, 35 people have tested positive for Type A flu but negative for seasonal flu, making it likely they have contracted swine flu, Leibrand said. With the exception of an 80-year-old person, the people who are suspected of having swine flu in the Evergreen State are between ages 1 and 42. Updates about the disease and test results can change hour-by-hour, he said.

Leibrand said it’s not surprising that a suspected case of H1N1 flu strain has popped up in Skagit. There are confirmed H1N1 flu cases in Snohomish County and southern British Columbia, he said. There’s a lot of back-and-forth travel between Skagit and Snohomish counties, he said.

“We’re a bedroom community for Boeing,” Leibrand said.

It’s also eight times as contagious.

The normal seasonal flu infects about 5 percent of the people exposed to it, Leibrand said. But humans haven’t built up immunity to the H1N1 flu strain, and about 40 percent of the people exposed contract the virus, he said.

As of Sunday, the Washington Conference of Seventh-day Adventists has followed the Skagit County Health Department’s recommendation to keep the 158-student school open, according to Heidi Martella, church spokesperson, in a prepared statement.

Leibrand said that he had recommended keeping the school open because the first girl had been out of school for a week and as of Sunday there had been no confirmed secondary cases among the students. On Sunday, the second girl tested positive for Type A flu strains and more testing is needed to determine if she has H1N1.

Health officials around the state determined general school guidelines Sunday, deciding that in most cases they won’t close individual schools.

“The severity of the disease is on the order of the magnitude of seasonal flu,” Leibrand said.

Closing schools also would cause a major disruption that might not do any good, especially if healthy children visit sick friends, he said.

“Our feeling is it’s very disruptive to close schools from a learning and economic standpoint,” he said. “…It’s not a deadly disease, at this time,” Leibrand said.

As a precaution, school officials notified parents, canceled a school picnic and sanitized the campus with a cleaning solution recommended by the health department, Martella said.

There’s a 95 percent chance that the first girl has H1N1, Leibrand said. Her test results are due back in a few days from the CDC.

The girl went home from school April 27 with a fever, cough and sore throat, Leibrand said. That day, she went to a doctor who diagnosed her with the flu.

She had not traveled to areas that had swine flu outbreaks or had contact with anyone from those areas, he said. She could return to school this week provided her symptoms have abated, he said.

Testing for swine flu will get easier in Washington state because the CDC has sent the state health department the means to do testing here. However, it’s likely state tests will be confirmed by the CDC, Leibrand said. It can take up to a week to get results.

Swabs from the five Anacortes cases were sent to the state for priority testing and results should be back in a few days. The oldest person with flu symptoms in Anacortes is 86.

Healthy people who have flu-like symptoms don’t need to get tested. They should stay home and treat their symptoms as they would the flu, Leibrand said. People should only see a doctor if symptoms worsen or they have risk factors, such as respiratory disease or a compromised immune system.

The virus is passed through airborne droplets from coughing and sneezing. Cover nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing and wash hands frequently, Leibrand said.

“It’s the same recommendations we have for any seasonal flu,” Leibrand said.

What is swine flu?
Swine flu is a strain of type A influenza circulated among pigs that rarely infects humans. Occasionally, strains form that transfer to humans. It causes typical flu symptoms, such as coughing, sore throat, fevers above 100 degrees and achy joints. It is very contagious.

Is it any worse than any other flu virus?
Swine flu is a milder strain than a type B influenza that circulated the United States this winter. But humans are not naturally immune because it is a new virus, so it spreads easily.

Is it in Skagit County?
As of Sunday afternoon, there was one suspected case in Sedro-Woolley and 10 cases of Type A influenza. Five cases in Anacortes were tested to determine whether the people have the seasonal flu strain. It will be a few days for the test results to come back.

I’ve got a cough, and it’s starting to look like the flu. What should I do?
Go home and stay home for seven days or 24 hours after symptoms subside, whichever takes longer. Those with flu-like symptoms should stay home and isolate themselves as much as possible from other family members. Cover coughs, wash hands and select one person to be the primary care giver at home.

Should I call the doctor?
When symptoms change from those of a typical flu, such as difficulty breathing or higher temperatures, contact the doctor.

Can I get medication? Will it help?
Tamiflu, an antiviral medication, is being shipped to the area hospitals and should arrive within a week. It will be distributed to patients who need it most based on doctor prescriptions. The medication can reduce symptoms and sometimes shorten the duration of the infection, but is not prescribed for flu prevention.

Source: Skagit County Health Officer Howard Leinbrand and Skagit County Health Director Peter Browning.

Marta Murvosh can be reached at 360-416-2149 or .