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Better Late Than Never -- Tamiflu Arrives in Connecticut

Connecticut is distributing Tamiflu to hospitals and clinics

By Kristie Borges

| Monday, Nov 9, 2009 | Updated 1:30 PM EST

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Better Late Than Never -- Tamiflu Arrives in Connecticut

NBCDFW.com

This week, Connecticut hospitals are receiving more doses of pediatric Tamiflu.

Another tool in the fight against the swine flu has arrived in Connecticut.

Beginning Monday, the state began distributing 3,000 bottles of Tamiflu to hospitals and clinics. Each treatment course lasts 10 days.

Connecticut received the anti-flu medicine from the federal government which released 234,000 courses of pediatric Tamiflu from the Strategic National Stockpile.

“We continue to see a marked increase in the number of confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus in both children and adults,” Governor Jodi Rell said. “But any parent who has ever stayed up all night with a sick child knows how difficult and heartbreaking it can be. It is important to treat the symptoms as soon as possible and so we must ensure that the medication is available.”

The Tamiflu will be given to 12 community health clinics and 17 hospitals with pediatric treatment programs. The CDC says there are guidelines for who should be treated with the anti-flu medication. It includes children younger than two-years old and pregnant women.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that nationally visits to doctors for flu-like illnesses has decreased slightly in the past week after four consecutive weeks of sharp increases. The CDC says the swine flu has wide-spread activity in 48 of the 50 states.

Connecticut has set up a H1N1 hotline at 800-830-9426 or you can log on to the state’s website for more information and resources.