This just in to our e-mail:

Harborview has its first Swine Flu patient. The patient presented at the Emergency Room earlier today and was admitted to the hospital about an hour ago.

There hasn’t been a general announcement to staff about the H1N1 patient, but UW Medicine employees have been sent an alert with the usual directives: wash hands frequently, stay home if sick, and have two weeks of food on hand in case there’s a quarantine.

I’m a Harborview employee, and while I’m sure this information will be released to the public in a few hours, I’d appreciate it if you just referred to me as “K.”

This isn’t confirmed. The P.I. points out:

“Like other states, Washington does not yet have the capacity to identify the swine flu being investigated. But labs here have been able to narrow down the subtype of flu samples collected, which have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for confirmation”

More as it comes in.

17 replies on “Department of Unsubstantiated Rumors”

  2. I call bullshit — Harborview employees are super professional, and wouldn’t leak something like this (never mind to the likes of The Stranger).

  3. Um, I think it would have been better to print the gist of the email in your own words, and mention you got it from a source who is supposedly close to the story. Now there is proof online that a Harborview employee leaked this info, and that could mean trouble for whoever wrote this.

  6. @2:
    Really? … each and every employee at harborview is soooo ‘super professional’ that you’re absolutely certain that none of those hundreds and hundreds of employees would shoot off an anonymous tip? …Really?

  7. yes, we got the alert. yes, do not panic. no, there is no level 5 in this county. yes, just wash your hands with hot water and soap.

    now, go mellow out and enjoy the sun, babies.

  8. @2, I’m generalizing from my experiences with their social workers and ER staff, sure, but why would someone there want to leak this information, never mind to the Stranger? It’s preposterous. It’s like if you worked at Boeing, and you decided to email info about a classified defense project acquisition to Seattle Weekly…

  9. @2 I know a lot of people that work at hospitals all over (as I’ve got one foot in the industry), and if there’s one thing they love, it’s gossip.
    And I’d tell the Stranger before any other news outlet as it’s the one I go to for news.

  10. Except that it might not even be swine flu. Whoever sent the email is full of shit, whether they work there or not. Nobody on earth has any fucking idea what this supposed patient has or doesn’t have.

  11. @8 why would anyone (especially you) want to post anonymous comments on the internet and especially at The Strangers blog? Here’s a clue fuckface, The Stranger is pretty fucking popular, that’s why you’re here.

  12. Seattle Children’s just emailed employees to say that we have at least one patient suspected to have the H1N1 flu. Extra precautions, including screening of ALL visitors, families and staff start tonight at 6pm.

  13. Everyone at the Broadway QFC has teh AIDS. Management had us quietly locking the doors from the outside and set fire to the building. Should be on the news soon.

  15. I’m not in that racket anymore, but any lab with a PCR machine and an Internet connection could set up an assay to distinguish Influenza A-H1N1 from all other variants within 24 hours, and run each sample in a couple of hours max. They would use the result to guide medical staff in protocols, but not enter it in the patients’ records or publicize it (except for leaks) until confirmed by a regular clinical lab or the CDC. The reason is that normal clinical testing also includes all kinds of rigorous protocols as well as internal and external controls, statistical validation, etc., etc. But it would be irresponsible in this day and age not to do quick-and-dirty local testing.

  17. Harborview, which sees all manner of gore, and also had the flesh eating virus, is getting all nancy-pants about the flu?

    hmmmm.

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