PORTLAND — Oregon has its first three confirmed cases of swine flu and its first victim who required intensive care, public health officials said Sunday.

The state was awaiting U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmation of another 19 probable cases, said Dr. Mel Kohn, acting director of the Oregon Public Health Division.

Two of the confirmed cases are in the Portland area and the third is a student at Western Oregon University in Polk County, Kohn said. Of the 22 probable or confirmed cases, two required hospitalization — a child with existing health problems who has since been released and a teenage girl recovering in an intensive care unit.

"The fact that we did have a case that was hospitalized and in the intensive care unit is of concern," Kohn said. "On the other hand, that is only one case, so it's difficult to know what that's going to mean in respect to severity."

Kohn said he spoke with doctors treating the girl and she was doing "very, very well and appeared to be on the road to recovery."

Oregon's probable and confirmed cases include 11 adults and 11 children or teenagers, and the split is almost evenly divided between males and females. Most of the cases are in the Willamette Valley, but the Eastern Oregon counties of Umatilla and Wallowa each have one.

Beside the Western Oregon University student, a second confirmed case is that of a young woman who became ill after two members of her extended family returned from Mexico, where they had contact with someone with respiratory illness. The Multnomah County woman was not hospitalized.

With half of Oregon's cases involving children or teenagers, school districts with a possibly afflicted student are deciding whether to close. Susanne Smith, spokeswoman for the state Department of Education, said the Central School District in Polk County will be shut all week and the Forest Grove district in Washington County will be closed Monday and Tuesday.

Western Oregon University closed its campus from Thursday evening through Monday after learning that one its students had a probable case. Now that it's confirmed, university and public health officials will decide Monday morning whether to extend the closure, said Denise Visuano, a university spokeswoman.

The U.S. government has confirmed 226 cases of swine flu in 30 states. The only swine flu death in the U.S. is that of a Mexican toddler visiting Texas. The ordinary seasonal flu causes an estimated 36,000 deaths the U.S. each year, mostly among the very young and the old. About 200,000 people in the U.S. are hospitalized each year because of flu complications.

"I think we're still kind at the beginning and we don't yet know what this is going to look like as it unfolds over the next couple of months," Kohn said.

Kohn reiterated the commonsense precautions people should take to prevent the spread of swine flu: wash your hands frequently, stay home if you're sick and cover your nose or mouth with something other than your hand when coughing or sneezing.