Immune-compromised people - question from a reader and answer from an epidemiologist

I'm a resident of Telluride and have a question that I'd like to see addressed on your blog:

"My 85 year old mother has lupus and nearly died in the 1968 pandemic when flu triggered her lupus and I have a good friend who is HIV positive. Should folks like this take extra precautions such as wearing N95 masks when in public or avoid public gatherings until more is known?"

I've seen that the one hospitalized case in US was immune compromised and reading between the lines sounds like she had something like lupus.

Thanks for any info that could be posted on this.

Answer from Nicole Comstock of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment:

"Based on CDC guidance, at this point, we are not recommending that anyone wear N-95 masks (or other masks) when going out in public unless they are experiencing symptoms consistent with influenza. If they are symptomatic and are going out in public (like to go see a doctor), wearing a face mask would be prudent.

"When swine influenza is confirmed in a community, persons with underlying medical conditions who are at high risk for influenza-related complications may want to consider avoiding large gatherings. At this point, we don't have any swine flu in Colorado, so we have no reason to push this recommendation."