Health

CHICAGO (CBS) ― While the number of swine flu cases in the United States has risen, there are still no confirmed cases in Illinois, and medical officials are fighting to keep it that way as long as possible. 

At a news conference Tuesday, Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Terry Mason said there were still no confirmed cases in Chicago, but "we expect that to change, given what we've seen elsewhere, given the case of swine flu in Northern Indiana." 

Indiana had its first confirmed swine flu case on Tuesday.

Mason encouraged Chicagoans to "think prevention and think preparedness," by covering mouths and noses when coughing or sneezing, using facial tissues and throwing them away promptly, washing hands with soap, and staying home from work or school when sick.

As CBS 2's Joanie Lum reports, hospitals in the Chicago area are going to great lengths to make sure healthy people aren't exposed to anyone who may have the virus. 

More Information Online...
* CDC Swine Flu Facts Sheet
* CDC Emergency Updates Via Twitter
* Swine Flu Twitter Live Search Results
* David Burnia's Swine Flu Watch On Twitter
* Flu Tracker Map Of Suspected, Confirmed Cases
* Cook County Department Of Public Health On Swine Flu

There have been ominous developments in the swine flu epidemic already this week. On Monday, the death count jumped to 152, prompting the World Health Organization to raise its pandemic alert level to four – only two points below a full-scale pandemic. 

The virus has already spread to at least a half-dozen countries and half of Mexico, which is the only country to report deaths from the virus.

With this in mind, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is telling all Americans not to travel to Mexico if they don't have to. 

There a quarantine room at O'Hare International Airport, only one of 20 such rooms at airports nationwide. Aviation officials say that so far, no one they know of has been detained, but it could happen.

But some travelers are going to Mexico anyway.

Jane Sukiennik of Glenview and her friend, Zack Karr, have been planning a getaway to Cancun for months. They almost canceled when they heard about the threat of swine flu, but decided to go ahead with the trip.

"For a moment yesterday it was all the scare, but we just figured as long as we were cautious, we should be OK," Karr said.

The young couple visited a doctor on Monday to get information about swine flu, and medication to take along.

"As long as we get through the airport, we're hoping it's OK, but we did get an emergency prescription of Tamiflu just in case," Sukiennik said.

Karr said he is concerned about the threat that swine flu will spread and get worse.

"We're very concerned about things escalating over the next six days, and us not being able to get back into the country when we need to get back into the country," Karr said.

On Tuesday night, star athletes from Mexico arrived in Chicago. The Club America soccer team, of the Mexican Primera División, came to town to play the Chicago Fire.

Flu concerns forced the team to play in an empty stadium at home. 

Nearly everyone arriving on flights from Mexico City has been wearing a surgical mask, and some have seemed anxious. But Chicago Mexican Consulate General Ioana Navarrete Pellicer said she believes the worst is over in Mexico.

"They believe that they have it under control, in the sense that they don't believe it's going to keep on growing, if people help also to that purpose," Pellicer said. 

But the guard is still up for many companies. 

One company in Illinois is restricting business travel to Mexico. Peoria-based Caterpillar has six manufacturing plants there, and notified employees on Monday that trips would have to be approved by company officers.

Airline passengers can still reschedule their trips to Mexico with some restrictions, but without any fees. But cruise lines are not waiving their fees.

Meanwhile, medical clinics in the Chicago area are taking no chances. They are putting out hand sanitizer, and in some cases, masks, warning that the swine flu could spread just like seasonal influenza. Anything a lot of people touch could harbor the virus, experts warn.

Touching your face, nose or mouth might mean you catch the flu, and it's why doctors are pushing proper hand washing and hand sanitizer. In some cases, hospitals are enforcing its use.

Security guards at entrances to the University of Chicago Medical Center are requiring people entering to use dispensers of liquid hand disinfectant.

Starting Monday, all patients seeking treatment for a fever, runny nose and coughs at Rush University Medical Center will be tested for flu with nasal swabs.

Any confirmed flu cases from the Chicago hospital will be sent to state health officials, where they'll be tested to see if they match the swine flu strain involved in the outbreak.

Rush's Dr. Jamil Bayram says there's been no surge in patients with flu symptoms so far.

Northwestern Memorial Hospital's Dr. John Flaherty advises against going to emergency rooms for mild respiratory symptoms.

The World Health Organization said the new phase 4 alert means sustained human-to-human transmission is causing outbreaks in at least one country, signaling a significant increase in the risk of a global epidemic, according to Mexico health department spokesman Carlos Olmos. Phase 4 doesn't mean a pandemic is inevitable, but many experts think it may be impossible to contain a flu virus already spreading in several countries.

Historically, flu pandemics have resulted in mass deaths, but predictions for their consequences have sometimes been off the mark. The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 killed 20 million people in a period of 10 months, and similar pandemics broke out in 1957 and 1968. But in 1976, when a 19-year-old Army recruit named David Lewis died of swine flu and sickened other soldiers at Fort Dix, N.J., a feared pandemic never played out, and a mass vaccination program by the Ford Administration was widely criticized.

The city Office of Emergency Management and Communications is planning a news conference at 2 p.m. on the latest in the battle against swine flu.

CBS 2's Joanie Lum and Dana Kozlov contributed to this report.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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