Well before lines start to form at clinics and pharmacies for flu shots, reports of swine flu are beginning to come in to District Four Health Services, which includes Troup County.

“District Four Public Health wants parents and employers to know that flulike illness is being reported in communities within the 12-county region,” district spokesman Hayla Hall said.

Health officials say those with flulike symptoms are tested for the unique H1N1 flu virus. However, because a small number of people actually receive that test, “We should not use these as indicators of the presence of H1N1 in our community. We should be proactive and conduct ourselves as if this virus is already in our communities,” Hall said.

Troup County had one reported case of swine flu during the outbreak earlier this year. The woman, who was visiting from Kentucky, was transferred to an Atlanta hospital and later recovered.

The Atlanta-based national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends those with flu symptoms stay home at least 24 hours after the last sign a fever is subsiding without fever-reducing medicine. Ill people who work in the health-care field should isolate themselves for seven days.

Local health officials say they’ve already been in communication with local schools, where viruses can spread rapidly without proper intervention.

Spokeswoman Catherine Holmes said Troup County schools’ Web site, www.troup. org, is constantly being updated with the latest flu information and parents and students are encouraged to check it. Teachers and students also are being trained on flu prevention techniques such as proper hygiene and hand washing.

Holmes said the schools’ plan for pandemic flu created two years ago was “extremely effective” during the last H1N1 outbreak and officials are consulting it again as they prepare for flu cases this year. School custodians are on the front line of prevention.

“The school custodial staffs are paying particular attention to commonly touched surfaces and are prepared to take extra measures should we see an increase in flu cases,” she said.

The symptoms of novel H1N1 are similar to regular seasonal flu and include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. Some infected people also have reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Most people who get it recover at home in about a week, the same as with seasonal flu, district health officials say.

“There is no vaccine available yet to protect people from catching novel H1N1. Until a vaccine has been developed and proven safe, our best course of action is to take steps to prevent the spread of illness in our schools, not just novel H1N1 but any kind of virus,” said Dr. Michael Brackett, District Four Health System director.

— For more information about novel H1N1, contact the local county health department or go online, www.cdc.gov or www.flu.gov.