ST. CHARLES, MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com) -
It's being called a significant increase with more to come. New flu numbers out for St. Charles County show close to 300 new flu cases in just the last week. The numbers are cause for concern for St. Charles mother of three Andrea Dowdy.
"I guess it's a little scary that the numbers are increasing that much," said Andrea.
The St. Charles County Health Department reports 275 new flu cases last week across the county.
The vast majority of the cases are Type A Flu and assumed to be swine flu. The numbers put Andrea on alert for her kids.
"I didn't expect it to hit until later in the season maybe more November, December. So I wasn't expecting it to hit before we could get our vaccines," explained Andrea.
The new cases bring the total number of flu cases in St. Charles County since May to 729. St. Charles County Health Department Director Gil Copley says the sharp increase in new cases sends a message.
Copley told us, "This basically tells us that H1N1 is firmly in the community; that we're seeing it mostly in younger kids."
Swine flu vaccine has started to arrive in St. Charles County. the first shipment of the nasal mist vaccine has already gone out to pediatricians and hospitals including St. Joseph's Health Center in downtown St. Charles.
We're told at this point, the hospital is using it only to vaccinate workers.
"It's to keep them from getting exposed and also keep them spreading the virus if they would be seeing patients- now they can be protected also," said Steve Fine, the Emergency Management Coordinator for the SSM hospital network.
Fine says all SSM hospitals throughout the St. Louis region now have the swine flu nasal mist for their workers.
We're told the H1N1 vaccine shots should be coming to St. Charles County in the next week or so.
The hope is that when the vaccine gets out to a larger number of people then the amount of swine flu cases will start to level off.
"I guess it's a little scary that the numbers are increasing that much," said Andrea.
The St. Charles County Health Department reports 275 new flu cases last week across the county.
The vast majority of the cases are Type A Flu and assumed to be swine flu. The numbers put Andrea on alert for her kids.
"I didn't expect it to hit until later in the season maybe more November, December. So I wasn't expecting it to hit before we could get our vaccines," explained Andrea.
The new cases bring the total number of flu cases in St. Charles County since May to 729. St. Charles County Health Department Director Gil Copley says the sharp increase in new cases sends a message.
Copley told us, "This basically tells us that H1N1 is firmly in the community; that we're seeing it mostly in younger kids."
Swine flu vaccine has started to arrive in St. Charles County. the first shipment of the nasal mist vaccine has already gone out to pediatricians and hospitals including St. Joseph's Health Center in downtown St. Charles.
We're told at this point, the hospital is using it only to vaccinate workers.
"It's to keep them from getting exposed and also keep them spreading the virus if they would be seeing patients- now they can be protected also," said Steve Fine, the Emergency Management Coordinator for the SSM hospital network.
Fine says all SSM hospitals throughout the St. Louis region now have the swine flu nasal mist for their workers.
We're told the H1N1 vaccine shots should be coming to St. Charles County in the next week or so.
The hope is that when the vaccine gets out to a larger number of people then the amount of swine flu cases will start to level off.
