Local public health officials take precautions
Local public health officials spread word about stopping the
spread of swine flu as the World Health Organization upgraded the
threat from phase 3 to phase 4 Monday, April 27.
Local public health officials take precautions
Local public health officials spread word about stopping the spread of swine flu as the World Health Organization upgraded the threat from phase 3 to phase 4 Monday, April 27.
“We sent out health alerts to targeted populations to raise awareness that this is a new virus, but there is a treatment” said Samela Perez, the public information officer for San Benito County’s Health and Human Services Agency Public Health Services. “We also let them know what they can do, what are universal precautions.”
They have targeted local schools, labor camps and other agencies that can help get out the information about how to prevent the spread of illness. Some of the precautions include covering the nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing; washing hands frequently; avoiding close contact with sick people; and staying home if you have flu-like symptoms.
“People should stay in if they are sick,” Perez said. “Keep children home if they are ill – unless they have respiratory distress or a high fever, or something that warrants seeing a physician.”
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell stressed the same precautions in a press release that went out to schools statewide.
“I am very concerned about preliminary reports in Mexico and Southern California about the emergence of a swine flu outbreak,” he wrote.
The release included a link (www.cde.ca.gov/148645) where teachers can download a poster that includes some of the tips to stay healthy that they can share with students or send home to parents.
The first U.S. cases of swine flu, influenza A (H1N1), a strain of the virus that is spread from pigs, were reported in late March and early April in Southern California and near San Antonio, Texas, according to a press release from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff. To date, there have been 40 cases reported in five states, though there have been cases in at least five other countries.
The World Health Organization, which monitors global outbreaks, upgraded the swine flu outbreak from phase 3 to phase 4 because it can be transmitted from human to human.
“The change to a higher phase of pandemic alert indicates that the likelihood of a pandemic has increased, but not that a pandemic is inevitable,” WHO staff wrote in a press statement.
According to the World Health Organization, the epicenter of the outbreak is in Mexico and through April 23, more than 880 cases of flu-like illness have been reported with 62 deaths, and the total continued to climb.
“The majority of these cases have occurred in otherwise healthy young adults,” the report states. “Because there are human cases associated with an animal influenza virus, and because of the geographical spread of multiple community outbreaks, plus the somewhat unusual age groups affected, these events are of high concern.”
With seasonal influenza, young and old populations, or those with chronic illness are most susceptible to illness, but with new strains, they can attack healthy populations harder.
Public health officials have been keeping tabs on flu outbreaks for years in anticipation of the next pandemic that could occur when a new strain of flu to which humans do not have immunity starts to spread rapidly between people. The last flu pandemic was in 1976. Perez stressed that the outbreak has not been elevated to a pandemic or epidemic level, but that local, state and federal officials are taking every precaution to stop the spread.
“We always thought it was going to come from Asia,” Perez said. “And we were anticipating a different strain of flu, but it has come up from Mexico.”
On April 27, the CDC issued an advisory to avoid all “nonessential travel to Mexico.”
In addition, the CDC’s Division of Strategic National Stockpile released a quarter of its antiviral drugs, personal protective equipment and respiratory protection devices to help states respond to the outbreak.
In California, the cases have been limited to three counties – Sacramento, San Diego and Imperial – but many public health departments have been preparing for such an outbreak for years.
“We’ve been preparing for this for two years,” Perez said, referring to the healthcare summits and the flu clinics the staff have conducted in the past. “The system is working. The plans that we’ve tested in the past, we are finding that all this collaboration is effective.
“We are starting the dialogue now. It’s a good thing that we start early on this stuff. Travel opportunities are much different than they used to be. People can get on a plane and be across the world in a short time.”
Those who show signs of the flu should contact a doctor, and those who would like more information on local efforts can call the San Benito Health Department at 637-5367.
Online resources
California Department of Public Health
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/Pages/default.aspx
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
www.cdc.gov/swineflu/index.htm
World Health Organization
www.who.int/en/
