Utah reports 4 more cases of likely N1H1

Utah has four more probable cases of swine flu since Thursday, according to the state Department of Health, which continues to wait on verifying test results from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The tally stands at nine probable cases and none confirmed to have the N1H1 virus, a new strain of so-called swine flu that surfaced in Mexico and is linked to one death in the United States.

Things could be worse, and might become so, in Utah, but public health officials remain wary but not excessively worried. They advised the public to do the same. Test results of the first suspected Utah case aren't expected until sometime this weekend, health department executive director Dr. David Sundwall said Friday afternoon.

Other than the number of probable cases and counties they're from — six people in Summit County, two in Salt Lake County and one in the Weber-Morgan public health district- — the health department is providing no patient-related details such as age, severity of symptoms or specific location of those who might be infected.

"When I see an increase in possible cases, I have no great anxiety," Sundwall said. "But if it continues day after day, then we'll move to other strategies for mitigation. Stopping public events, that's a long way down the road."

Park City has gone there already. Schools are closed, extracurricular activities have been canceled, as have church meetings this weekend. Judge Memorial High School in Salt Lake City started a five-day weekend Friday.

In Park City, where the first Utah cases were suspected, a variety of responses were being manifest, ranging from total unconcern to caution.

Madi Bruschki, a Park City High School junior, said that "Some people are worried about getting sick. Lots of kids seem to have weird stuff like colds. It's kind of sketchy." Like her classmates, she was aware that the school's junior prom, set for Saturday, has been delayed to May 30. All school events, including athletic competitions, are on hold. Bruschki noted that some parents are more concerned than others. Her own mother, she said, is not overly distraught. Likewise, students have mixed feelings about all the hoopla, she said.

The town was waiting on a possible press conference Friday to announce the findings of a Centers for Disease Control analysis of specimens from the first individual thought to have contracted the disease in Park City. The conference may not materialize until Saturday, health officials said.