County Gets First H1N1 Case

Santa Barbara County’s first confirmed case of H1N1 Influenza A (the virus formerly known as Swine Flu) has emerged in Isla Vista. Henry Yang, UCSB’s Chancellor, announced, without naming names, on Wednesday afternoon, May 27, that two students came down with “very mild” cases of the flu, were treated, and had fully recovered. However, only one of the students’ cases has yet been confirmed as H1N1 by Santa Barbara County Public Health, which sent biological samples to the California Public Health Lab for testing.

The student confirmed to have had H1N1 has two roommates, neither of whom became ill. The 20-year-old came into UCSB Student Health Services with mild flu-like symptoms on May 20. The second student came in a day later and has also fully recovered.

The county’s, and UCSB’s, advice for responding to the flu threat remained the same: Avoid touching your eyes, mouth, and nose; wash hands frequently; and stay home from work or school if you are sick – for seven days or until you are well.