A new case of H1N1 swine flu in Hamilton County has been confirmed, according to information provided by the Tennessee Department of Health.
Health department spokesperson Shelley Walker said she had no information about the patient, but confidential sources familiar with the case said the patient has been critically ill for more than a week.
This is the second case of swine flu here, state health department reports showed.
Data also indicated that swine flu has been confirmed in six patients who reside in neighboring Bradley County.
Five Tennessee counties – Davidson, Knox, Summer, Williamson and Shelby – account for 70 percent of the state’s total 220 cases.
The number of confirmed cases is growing, statistics showed. Between July 8 and July 10, new cases of H1N1 also were confirmed in patients from Greene, Putnam, Rutherford, Sevier and Williamson counties.
Swine flu also is spreading in the rest of the nation, according to information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. In neighboring Georgia, for example, the incidence of H1N1 is reported as “widespread.”
The growing number of confirmed cases and deaths has prompted federal officials to expect, and prepare for, a widespread outbreak this fall.
According to national reports, a number of vaccine manufacturers (Baxter International Inc, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis AG, Sanofi-Aventis and Solvay) and nasal spray maker MedImmune, part of AstraZeneca, are in the process of developing a swine flu vaccine.
U.S. health officials hope to have as many as 100 million doses of the vaccine ready for distribution by mid-October. Tentative plans are to launch a mass immunization campaign across the nation at that time.
Federal health authorities are scheduled to meet on July 29 to discuss who should get vaccinated.