SAN ANTONIO (AP) _ Texas health officials are waiting for word on eight possible cases of swine flu in Texas.
Two cases have been confirmed among students at a high school in Cibolo near San Antonio. Emily Palmer, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services, says samples from five people in the Guadalupe County area and three from the Dallas-Fort Worth area have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for additional testing.
Governor Rick Perry is asking for 850,000 more courses of antiviral medication to have on hand in the state.
Meanwhile, U.S. health officials say they are “very pessimistic” that the seasonal flu vaccine protects against the unique swine flu infecting people in the United States, Mexico and other countries.
A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official said tests of the seasonal vaccine and the new virus show no cross-reaction, suggesting that people who got the vaccine have no added protection against the new bug.
It’s possible that people who have been exposed to flu viruses every year — especially older people, with a greater exposure history — may have some natural immunity, the CDC official said in a call with reporters.