nearly 300 schools close doors
FROM THE BLADE'S NEWS SERVICES
WASHINGTON - Nearly 300 schools scattered around the country closed as the nation's swine flu case load passed 130 yesterday, and U.S. authorities said they eventually could produce enough vaccine for everyone if necessary - but that shots couldn't begin until fall at the earliest.
The outbreak penetrated more than a dozen states and even touched the White House, which disclosed that an aide to Energy Secretary Steven Chu apparently got sick helping arrange President Obama's recent trip to Mexico. Officials said the aide did not fly on Air Force One and never posed a risk to the President.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed 109 cases yesterday, and state officials confirm 21 more. Cases now are confirmed in: New York, Texas, California, South Carolina, Kansas, Massachusetts, Indiana, Ohio, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware, Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota, and Virginia.
An estimated 12,000 people logged onto a Web cast where the government's top emergency officials sought to cut confusion by answering questions straight from the public: Can a factory worker handling parts from Mexico catch the virus? No. Can pets get it? No.
And is washing hands or using those alcohol-based hand gels best? Washing well enough is the real issue, answered Dr. Richard Besser, acting chief of the CDC. He keeps hand gel in his pocket for between-washings but also suggested that people sing "Happy Birthday" as they wash their hands to make sure they've washed long enough to get rid of germs.
It is safe to fly, U.S. officials found themselves stressing after Vice President Joe Biden got off message yesterday. Mr. Biden said he would discourage family members from flying or even taking the subway. The White House insisted the vice president meant to say he was discouraging just nonessential travel to Mexico, the hardest-hit area.
"It is safe to fly. There is no reason to cancel flights," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said. Not just planes, but "all modes of transportation are safe in America," he added.
But anyone with flulike symptoms shouldn't be traveling anywhere unless they need to seek medical care - the same advice that doctors give during the winter, when regular flu kills 36,000 Americans each year.
"If you're ill, you shouldn't get on an airplane or any public transport to travel," CDC's Dr. Anne Schuchat told a congressional hearing. "If you're sick, stay home."
So far, U.S. cases are fairly mild for the most part, with one death, a Mexican toddler who visited Texas with his family.
In fact, Dr. Schuchat said most of the U.S. cases so far didn't need a doctor's care.
By contrast, more than 160 suspected deaths have been reported in Mexico.
Mexico's top medical officer voiced optimism yesterday that swine flu had slowed there, but the World Health Organization cautioned there is no evidence the worst of the global outbreak is over.
Mexican Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said new cases have leveled off and the death rate has been nearly flat for several days. He said the next few days would be critical in determining whether the virus was truly on the decline.
Still, the United States is taking extraordinary precautions, including shipping millions of doses of anti-flu drugs to states in case they're needed against what the World Health Organization has called an imminent pandemic, because scientists cannot predict what a brand-new virus might do.
The number of closed schools more than doubled overnight to nearly 300 when the Fort Worth Independent School District in Texas announced it was closing its 140 schools, affecting about 80,000 students.
Colleges are seeing cases too. Four were confirmed at the University of Delaware, and in Pennsylvania, Slippery Rock University will hold a separate graduation tomorrow for 22 students who recently returned from Mexico and won't be beyond an incubation period.
A small number of schools were closed in Ohio and Michigan.
The only confirmed swine flu case in Ohio is a 9-year-old boy who is recovering at his home in Elyria.
The federal government yesterday confirmed Michigan's second case of swine flu as K-12 districts began to close some schools while awaiting word if students had been infected.
Women in Ottawa County west of Grand Rapids and Livingston County northwest of Detroit, both 34 years old, were recovering from the virus.
In Everett, Wash., a pediatrician who thought she was suffering from allergies saw 22 patients and their parents before testing positive for what is believed to be swine flu. The Everett Clinic is contacting any patients potentially exposed.
Subject: Swine flu cases in U.S. top 130; 
Fri May 01, 2009 9:13 am
