City, state prepare against H1N1
Officials give advice for detection, prevention of spreading virus
Breann Schossow
Issue date: 5/4/09 Section: Campus News
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Dale Peters, public information officer for the Eau Claire city/county health department, said there were 12 people in Eau Claire County that were being tested through the state laboratory of hygiene, one of which came back negative.
Due to the outbreak beginning in April, organizations at national and international levels have taken precautions to prepare for the virus. On a local level, the city/county health department of Eau Claire, UW-Eau Claire and local medical facilities have made similar preparations.
Peters said in a statement that plans have been activated for the county to deal with the outbreak and follow the guidelines of the incident command system, a formal procedure for managing large-scale events that impact the safety and health of the community.
To facilitate communication regarding the virus, Peters said a joint information center has been composed of public information personnel from the medical facilities of Eau Claire and education centers, including UW-Eau Claire.
Peters said that while the steps the planning department are taking is not new, this is the first time a joint information system has been activated for a biological event.
Like the city, the university has taken measures to protect students. Last week, Student Health Services sent out a mass e-mail to the university advising students about precautionary health measures.
"We felt it was important that students have a status report of hearing it in the media … what's going on here," said Laura Chellman, director of Student Health Services, adding that the university is staying in contact with administration and the state health department.
Regardless, Chellman said there has been some student concern and phone calls about the outbreak, but it's been helpful to share information and testing criteria for the virus. This includes symptoms characteristic of influenza (fever greater than 100 degrees, cough or sore throat, myalgia), return from infected areas with seven days prior to the onset of symptoms or contact with ill person from infected areas.
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vancouver movers
posted 5/05/09 @ 1:46 PM CST
There is a lot of talk about swine flu lately but regular flu is even more deadly. About 20,000 people die from regular flu every year in the US, while only about 100 people have been affected by swine flu so far. (Continued…)
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