ST. LOUIS MO(KTVI-FOX2Now.com) -
Flu fears hit home in Missouri. The state's first suspected case of Swine Flu has been reported in Platte County near Kansas City. Also Wednesday, a Chicago student originally from Ellisville is one of Illinois' nine probable cases.
The 20 year old student is back home in Ellisville taking Tamiflu and recovering. He tells Fox 2 he was sicker than he has ever been in his life.
The student is a 2006 graduate from C-B-C, says he is quarantined to his room.
"People that come in contact with me are recommended to wear masks. I'm not allowed to leave my room. I can't come in contact with anybody. The only person I see during the day is my mother. She takes care of me and gives me lunch and stuff like that. Other than that I've been just quarantined to my room and just trying to sleep it off more or less," explained Michael.
The infected student is a sophomore at Loyola University in Chicago. The school's website says a 20 year old student has a suspected case of Swine Flu but does not specifically identify who he is.
The student says after seeing a doctor at school, he was sent to St. Joseph's Hospital in Chicago where he tested positive for flu.
He told Fox 2 health officials in Chicago called him Wednesday and said he likely has Swine Flu. He says he first getting symptoms on Saturday which he thought were just allergies. He told Fox 2 how he felt.
"I woke up and I felt like, like I was going to die at one point. I had a terrible headache, I was dizzy, my body was aching, I had chills, I would go from being really cold to being sweaty and clammy. I was really weak, I couldn't get out of bed, I was sleeping all day. It was absolutely terrible, my fever got really high, I had to be iced down I was so warm by my friends that were taking care of me,"
He does not know how he got the Swine Flu. He hasn't been to Mexico and as far as he knows has not been in contact with anyone who has been to Mexico. Michael said he can't return to school until at least Monday. What's worse for is that this is final's week at his university.
Meanwhile, the first suspected case of Swine Flu in Missouri has emerged.
FOX 2 Now's Swine Flu Page
Gov. Jay Nixon said Wednesday evening that state health officials believe a Platte County resident probably has contracted the virus and that a sample is being sent for confirmation to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
"This is a situation that could become more serious, but while this is cause for concern, it is not cause for alarm," Nixon said at a hastily called news conference at his Capitol office.
Platte County is in western Missouri and encompasses part of Kansas City. Nixon did not release the person's gender, age or demographic details, because he said public health officials still were in the process of notifying the person.
Nixon said he did not know if the person had traveled outside of the U.S. or whether the person currently was hospitalized or at home.
The person first was tested for the influenza locally, then a sample was sent to the state health laboratory, which concluded Wednesday that person's influenza probably was same swine flu strain that is believed to have originated in Mexico.
"The test we can do here in Jefferson City identifies it as a novel virus -- a new virus -- and it eliminates all the other possible strains," said Margaret Donnelly, the director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. "Therefore you have a pretty good probability that when it is sent to CDC you will get the confirmation test" that it is swine flu.
Donnelly said it could take several days to get the results from the federal lab.
The swine flu is confirmed or suspected in more than 150 deaths and nearly 2,500 illnesses in Mexico. In the U.S., there have been nearly 100 confirmed cases in at least 10 states from coast to coast, including one death in Texas.
The 20 year old student is back home in Ellisville taking Tamiflu and recovering. He tells Fox 2 he was sicker than he has ever been in his life.
The student is a 2006 graduate from C-B-C, says he is quarantined to his room.
"People that come in contact with me are recommended to wear masks. I'm not allowed to leave my room. I can't come in contact with anybody. The only person I see during the day is my mother. She takes care of me and gives me lunch and stuff like that. Other than that I've been just quarantined to my room and just trying to sleep it off more or less," explained Michael.
The infected student is a sophomore at Loyola University in Chicago. The school's website says a 20 year old student has a suspected case of Swine Flu but does not specifically identify who he is.
The student says after seeing a doctor at school, he was sent to St. Joseph's Hospital in Chicago where he tested positive for flu.
He told Fox 2 health officials in Chicago called him Wednesday and said he likely has Swine Flu. He says he first getting symptoms on Saturday which he thought were just allergies. He told Fox 2 how he felt.
"I woke up and I felt like, like I was going to die at one point. I had a terrible headache, I was dizzy, my body was aching, I had chills, I would go from being really cold to being sweaty and clammy. I was really weak, I couldn't get out of bed, I was sleeping all day. It was absolutely terrible, my fever got really high, I had to be iced down I was so warm by my friends that were taking care of me,"
He does not know how he got the Swine Flu. He hasn't been to Mexico and as far as he knows has not been in contact with anyone who has been to Mexico. Michael said he can't return to school until at least Monday. What's worse for is that this is final's week at his university.
Meanwhile, the first suspected case of Swine Flu in Missouri has emerged.
FOX 2 Now's Swine Flu Page
Gov. Jay Nixon said Wednesday evening that state health officials believe a Platte County resident probably has contracted the virus and that a sample is being sent for confirmation to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
"This is a situation that could become more serious, but while this is cause for concern, it is not cause for alarm," Nixon said at a hastily called news conference at his Capitol office.
Platte County is in western Missouri and encompasses part of Kansas City. Nixon did not release the person's gender, age or demographic details, because he said public health officials still were in the process of notifying the person.
Nixon said he did not know if the person had traveled outside of the U.S. or whether the person currently was hospitalized or at home.
The person first was tested for the influenza locally, then a sample was sent to the state health laboratory, which concluded Wednesday that person's influenza probably was same swine flu strain that is believed to have originated in Mexico.
"The test we can do here in Jefferson City identifies it as a novel virus -- a new virus -- and it eliminates all the other possible strains," said Margaret Donnelly, the director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. "Therefore you have a pretty good probability that when it is sent to CDC you will get the confirmation test" that it is swine flu.
Donnelly said it could take several days to get the results from the federal lab.
The swine flu is confirmed or suspected in more than 150 deaths and nearly 2,500 illnesses in Mexico. In the U.S., there have been nearly 100 confirmed cases in at least 10 states from coast to coast, including one death in Texas.
