Kane County confirmed swine flu cases rise to 23

Kane County's official total of people who have contracted the H1N1 virus stood at 23 as of Thursday afternoon. The total is four more than the most recent count. The four people are not brand new cases, but rather probable cases that the Centers for Disease Control have confirmed with certainty after further testing.

Most of the cases have developed in individuals between the ages of 1 and 35, according to Kane County Health Department Executive Director Paul Kuehnert. The median age of victims of the virus is about 16.

Much of the ongoing increase is attributable to transmission of the virus to others who live in the same household as the person who originally contracted the virus. Local schools are open and running again and experience minimal student absentees because of flu-like symptoms.

"We need to consider this outbreak as a second flu season and take appropriate, common sense precautions to protect ourselves and our families - the same precautions we should take every flu season," Kuehnert said.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Related links</h2> <ul class="moreWeb"> <li><a href="http://www.idph.state.il.us/swine_flu/">State's swine flu information page</a></li> <li><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=p&msa=0&msid=106484775090296685271.0004681a37b713f6b5950&ll=32.639375,-110.390625&spn=15.738151,25.488281&source=embed">Google Map tracking of swine flu cases</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/index.html">WHO Swine Flu page</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/">CDC Swine Flu infomation</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>