This from Candace Corley of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment:
It would be wonderful if H1N1 was another Y2K, and I hope it is.
Regardless, the precautions we are recommending, are good life skills; get your immunizations, wash your hands, adult and pediatric first aid and psychological first aid.
What could be better?
Maybe H1N1 is just a good excuse to be more competent.
We should rename it Life Competency Training.
Showing posts with label H1N1. Show all posts
Showing posts with label H1N1. Show all posts
Monday, August 24, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
What should a small-business owner do about flu?
Thanks to Nancy Enyart for these tips for businesspeople:
With the flu season arriving, businesses can improve their employees' attendance by preparing now.
Some very basic steps that businesses can take include:
:: distributing messages encouraging good hygiene (wash your hands often, cover your cough),
:: encouraging people to stay home when they're sick, and
:: setting up flu vaccination clinics at the workplace.
Although the novel H1N1 flu is what is in the news, the annual seasonal flu kills 36,000 every year in the US alone. So, regardless of how severe the novel H1N1 flu turns out to be this year, any steps you take to inform your employees about how to protect themselves from any type of flu will pay off in a healthier, safer workforce.
With the flu season arriving, businesses can improve their employees' attendance by preparing now.
Some very basic steps that businesses can take include:
:: distributing messages encouraging good hygiene (wash your hands often, cover your cough),
:: encouraging people to stay home when they're sick, and
:: setting up flu vaccination clinics at the workplace.
Although the novel H1N1 flu is what is in the news, the annual seasonal flu kills 36,000 every year in the US alone. So, regardless of how severe the novel H1N1 flu turns out to be this year, any steps you take to inform your employees about how to protect themselves from any type of flu will pay off in a healthier, safer workforce.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Pandemonium about pandemic?
You probably heard that today the World Health Organization raised the level of pandemic alert to full pandemic. No pandemonium is needed.
What is important to remember is that this is a geographic designation, acknowledging the widespread illness resulting from the H1N1 virus. It does not mean that the virus is causing more severe illness.
When I look back on my post from May 22, what is most remarkable is that our information and messages have not changed. The good news about that is the virus is still stable, which makes efforts to create an effective vaccine possible.
So what should we do now?
In public health, we need to use this time to prepare for the fall in case the virus re-emerges. We don't know if it will; we don't know if it will be more severe; we don't know if we will have a vaccine. Regardless, there are many things we can do in the meantime. We have immunization and stockpile people thinking ahead; communicators can prepare information, too.
Tomorrow, look for a post on what individuals can do to prepare for the fall, in case we see the return of H1N1 in a more severe form.
What is important to remember is that this is a geographic designation, acknowledging the widespread illness resulting from the H1N1 virus. It does not mean that the virus is causing more severe illness.
When I look back on my post from May 22, what is most remarkable is that our information and messages have not changed. The good news about that is the virus is still stable, which makes efforts to create an effective vaccine possible.
So what should we do now?
In public health, we need to use this time to prepare for the fall in case the virus re-emerges. We don't know if it will; we don't know if it will be more severe; we don't know if we will have a vaccine. Regardless, there are many things we can do in the meantime. We have immunization and stockpile people thinking ahead; communicators can prepare information, too.
Tomorrow, look for a post on what individuals can do to prepare for the fall, in case we see the return of H1N1 in a more severe form.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Making a vaccine, and would you want to get it?
CDC has been talking about the steps they are taking that would make it possible to manufacture an effective vaccine for H1N1 flu. They just released some research yesterday that makes them pretty sure that the seasonal flu vaccine won't help at all for this novel (new) H1N1 virus.
It's quite a process to develop vaccine, not to mention the FDA approval process, called clinical trials, that would be necessary to get it into the arms of people.
First, they have to isolate the virus. The good news about is that this particular H1N1 flu virus (and there are many other H1N1s) has remained pretty stable over this last month, so it's not like they are chasing something that is changing every time they look at it.
Then, they have to try to grow the virus to see if it will replicate so they can make anything out of it. If so, this "candidate" virus is shared with manufacturers.
The production people do testing to see if they will be able to make enough vaccine and what dose will generate the immune response that they want. They can add stuff to the vaccine to improve the immune response -- stuff called adjuvants -- which might help reduce how much antigen is needed to get the desired immune response.
OK, so if you are following so far, they are saying it looks promising for a vaccine and the feds have dedicated $1 billion (!) to the clinical studies needed to get it approved and the commercial production.
All this is to be ready if this virus reemerges with some fury in the future, maybe even this fall. Pretty interesting.
So, what do you think? Do you get a seasonal flu shot? If this flu comes back with a vengeance, would you want to be vaccinated?
It's quite a process to develop vaccine, not to mention the FDA approval process, called clinical trials, that would be necessary to get it into the arms of people.
First, they have to isolate the virus. The good news about is that this particular H1N1 flu virus (and there are many other H1N1s) has remained pretty stable over this last month, so it's not like they are chasing something that is changing every time they look at it.
Then, they have to try to grow the virus to see if it will replicate so they can make anything out of it. If so, this "candidate" virus is shared with manufacturers.
The production people do testing to see if they will be able to make enough vaccine and what dose will generate the immune response that they want. They can add stuff to the vaccine to improve the immune response -- stuff called adjuvants -- which might help reduce how much antigen is needed to get the desired immune response.
OK, so if you are following so far, they are saying it looks promising for a vaccine and the feds have dedicated $1 billion (!) to the clinical studies needed to get it approved and the commercial production.
All this is to be ready if this virus reemerges with some fury in the future, maybe even this fall. Pretty interesting.
So, what do you think? Do you get a seasonal flu shot? If this flu comes back with a vengeance, would you want to be vaccinated?
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