Orange County is experiencing a rise in swine flu cases -- a third of its 12 reported deaths were in the last two weeks -- a trend that mirrors much of the state. The virus has become so widespread that officials are stepping away from tracking individual cases, instead mustering resources to deal with the illness.
As of July 16, health officials throughout the state stopped monitoring individuals who contract the H1N1 virus because doing so was sapping too many resources.
"At this point, it's present throughout the country, it's outside of flu season," said Ralph Montano of the state Department of Public Health. "So it's a fair assumption that if someone has the flu right now, they have swine flu."
Orange County currently has 132 hospitalizations and 12 deaths attributed to the H1N1 virus. As of July 17, the county had reported 531 confirmed or probable cases. On June 2, there were 67.
Dr. Hildy Meyers, medical director of epidemiology for the Orange County Health Care Agency, said there are "hundreds, maybe thousands" of actual cases. "Transmission is widespread, and many people with mild cases are not being tested," she said. "We're focusing on the hospitalized cases."
With a much larger population, Los Angeles County has 135 hospitalizations and 17 deaths -- though the state is reporting eight deaths in the county. That's up from 62 hospitalizations and three deaths as of July 11, said Dr. Laurene Mascola, chief of the acute communicable disease control program of the county Department of Public Health.
As of July 23, there were 583 hospitalizations and 61 deaths statewide -- up from 142 hospitalizations and 17 deaths as of June 25. Part of the reason the numbers seem so high is the increased testing, Mascola said.
"No one has ever tested for flu before in such vast amounts," she said. "In the past you couldn't get doctors to test for flu, and now they're testing anything that moves."
But the numbers themselves are difficult to track.
There is great variation in when cases are reported to the state by counties and hospitals. For example, L.A. County, which gets data from 100 hospitals, said it had not sent 20 to 30 cases to the state. There are also delays in receiving reports and lab confirmation. And each locality releases its updates at different times: the state on Thursdays, Orange County daily, San Diego County on Wednesdays, some areas almost haphazardly.
