South Carolina is awaiting test results on 22 patients suspected of having swine flu, and a school in Newberry closed after some pupils who had traveled to Mexico became ill, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control reported Monday. Test results might be back late Monday or today, and there are currently no confirmed cases, the department said.

The state is expecting a shipment of antiviral drugs from the federal stockpile in the next few days and should be able to treat up to 150,000 cases.

The outbreak is prompting meetings at Medical College of Georgia Hospital and Clinics to discuss selective testing, said James Wilde, a member of the health system pandemic planning committee and a member of the state pandemic flu task force.

Much about what is happening with the outbreak in Mexico is undetermined and could be skewing how deadly the virus actually is, Dr. Wilde said.

"What we've got in the U.S. so far is not any more serious than our typical seasonal influenza outbreaks," he said.

Still, as a regional coordinating hospital for the state, MCG Hospital and Clinics hopes to hold a teleconference with the hospitals and physicians in the 13-county region surrounding Augusta to update them on pandemic plans, including how medications and resources would be allocated.

There have been no confirmed swine flu cases in Georgia and South Carolina, and Dr. Wilde said testing at MCG Hospital ended about a month ago when the last several tests came back negative.

Testing likely will be restarted only on those with flulike illness who have traveled to an area where there is a known outbreak, he said. And then testing will be "probably only for the most suspect cases," Dr. Wilde said.

The vast disparity between the reported deaths in Mexico and the relatively mild cases in the U.S. raises questions about whether pneumonia patients are being mixed in with swine flu cases, he said.

"Something so far is not adding up in Mexico," Dr. Wilde said.

Experts have long warned of a coming pandemic. That usually requires a previously unseen virus, a population without immunity to it, and a virus that transmits easily from person to person, he said.

Though the virus is new, it's unclear how easily it could jump from person to person, he said.

Reach Tom Corwin at (706) 823-3213 or tom.corwin@augustachronicle.com.