Behind the Scenes on H1N1

For many Americans, preparing for H1N1 flu has been fairly simple: more handwashing, getting an immunization (if available), stocking up on tissues and medications and following updates on the news.

But for public health workers around the nation, preparing for H1N1 flu has been an intense, coordinated effort designed to keep people safe and informed, according to presenters who spoke at a session at APHA’s Annual Meeting in Philadelphia this week.

The behind-the-scenes work on H1N1, also known as swine flu, by health officials began as soon as the virus was identified this spring and is still continuing in states and communities throughout the nation.

Public health officials are continuously trying to improve communication between health care providers and health departments. For example, at a November 9th Annual Meeting session on H1N1 presented by Mary Davis of the North Carolina Institute for Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said that North Carolina public health agencies are working closely with local health departments to make sure that health providers are receiving the best information possible about H1N1 so they, in turn, can pass their knowledge on to the public.

With new research being done regarding H1N1, it’s important for everyone to remember to stay flexible during a time when we may be receiving all kinds of new information. As Tamar Klaiman of the O’Neil Center for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University recommended during her presentation, with a new disease outbreak on the horizon, people should expect uncertainty because scientists and health officials are constantly collecting new data and may change guidelines to ensure that we have the most up to date information available. With new information, improvements can be made to better future responses in preventing spread of H1N1.

With more information out there on H1N1, more people are becoming aware of the availability of the vaccine: According to a study done in North Carolina in mid-September, more people said they planned to get an H1N1 vaccine than months ago.

As H1N1 flu cases continue, health workers will continue to plan and adapt, focusing on issues such as school closures, vaccination clinics and communicating with the public, according to session presenters.

Infectious disease, infect me not!

Trying to get your community prepared in the midst of flu season? Looking for ways to teach your colleagues, classmates or neighbors about staying healthy? The San Francisco Department of Health’s new Web site can help.

“Infect Me Not” contains lots of activities to help you learn how to prevent the spread of germs and infectious disease. For starters, check out the eight things you can do to keep yourself healthy, a list of easy habits you can adopt from preparing your food safely to getting vaccinated that can help keep you disease-free.

It also features three fun 30-second videos — one about coughing and sneezing, one about hand-washing and one about staying home when you’re sick — that drive home important points about preventing the spread of disease with a healthy dose of humor.

Our favorite part of the Web site is the song competition. It’s a great idea (in fact, APHA did something similar a few years ago) and a fun way for the public to be involved, strive for a prize and ultimately teach others about being healthy.

And with all this talk about disease, what are germs anyway and how do they make us sick? You can find out on the Web site’s germ facts page. There’s also information on getting vaccinated, from the seasonal flu shot to the shots needed when you travel to other countries, and answers to questions about pandemic flu. There are brochures, posters, ads and videos, too, that anyone can download and use to spread the word — with washed hands — about being healthy.

The moral of the story? Being sick is no fun for anyone. Take the small steps to stay healthy to keep you and those around you happy and well.

Use your extra hour this weekend to check your emergency stockpile

What would you do with an extra hour? With daylight saving time ending this weekend, you have a chance to find out. And APHA has the perfect solution with what to do with your extra hour: Take some time to get more prepared.

In conjunction with its Get Ready campaign, APHA is reminding you to “Set Your Clocks, Check Your Stocks” this Sunday, Nov. 1. That means in addition to checking the batteries in your smoke alarm, it’s also time to make sure you and your household are ready for emergencies.

APHA has these tips on how you can use that bonus hour to become prepared:

* Check your stockpile and make sure that your emergency supplies, such as food, water and batteries, are still good. If you don’t have a stockpile, take some time to create one.

* Re-familiarize yourself and your family with your community’s emergency preparedness plan, including evacuation routes, emergency shelters and the location of food banks.

* Update your family communication plan, which will spell out how you will get in touch with one another during an emergency.

* Gather extra supplies for your pets, which need their own stockpile of food and water.

* Collect your medications together in one place, and make sure you have enough supplies in case you or your family have to stay home with the flu for a few days.

The Get Ready: Set Your Clocks, Check Your Stocks Web site has a wealth of free information that can help you with your emergency supplies, including easy-to-understand fact sheets on what to put in your stockpile (PDF), budget stockpiling (PDF), stockpiling for pets (PDF), a stockpiling checklist (PDF) and the supplies you need to have on hand for a cold or the flu (PDF).

Still not convinced? Read what the University of Minnesota had to say about Set Your Clocks, Check Your Stocks on its Promising Practices: Pandemic Preparedness Tools Web site and see what the buzz is about.

Getting the H1N1 vaccine: The waiting is the hardest part

Today's guest blog entry is by Katie Dineley, a student at the University of Maryland. She was among the first to receive the H1N1 influenza vaccine in Montgomery County, Md., thanks to a flu-shot clinic organized by the health department there.

In mid-October, I went to a local government health facility here in Montgomery County, Md., to get the H1N1 flu vaccine. I thought it would be a 20-minute trip. Was I wrong! When I got there, I could have sworn a sports event or concert was going on. It was the first day the H1N1 vaccine was offered in the county, and police were everywhere telling people where to park. Cars were on the grass, all along the main road and on side streets. The line was intimidating too, wrapping around the building and extending all the way out to the main road. I didn’t want to mess with parking there, so I parked in a neighborhood a few blocks away and walked to the building.

It was about 9:45 in the morning when I got there, and already at least 200 people were in front of me. There were families with small kids, a good amount of pregnant women and some elderly people. Children were running and playing and rolling down the hill. I was surprised to see news cameras there too.

Most of the people in line waited patiently, but one middle-aged man behind me got fed up and rudely cut in line closer to the front. Everyone in line was worried that the vaccine would run out, but health workers were walking through the line reassuring us that there was plenty of vaccine to go around. They handed out fliers with information about who should or shouldn’t get the needle injection or the spray mist. The recommendations are based on age and lots of different health conditions. The intranasal vaccine, or mist — which is sprayed into both nostrils — is only recommended for certain groups. I was considered to be in a “priority group” because I’m younger than 25.

I wore my hooded sweatshirt that morning, thinking it would keep me warm, but boy was I wrong. After two hours, I was happy to get inside the building. It still took another 40 minutes to get to the front of the line, where a health worker administered the mist to me. It had a strange taste, both bitter and sweet, which hit me about five minutes later.

For the next two days, I had a minor headache and felt a little tired and achy, but they told us to expect some minor side effects if we got the intranasal vaccine. I also read in the paper to the next day that about 1,000 people went through the line that day.

I feel so much better now that I’ve been vaccinated against both H1N1 flu and the seasonal flu, which I had done a week earlier. I was worried about catching both. I’m a college student at the University of Maryland, and there are always illnesses being passed around. I can finally go to class worry free. And another good thing: The vaccine was free.

The business of flu: What can employers do to prepare?

Flu season is officially here, and that means more coughing, sneezing and runny noses, both at home and in the workplace. (Germy keyboards and cash registers, anyone?) With both seasonal flu and H1N1 flu — also known as swine flu — causing people to get sick and miss work, it’s important for businesses to be ready for flu.


To keep businesses up and running during emergencies, such as when a lot of workers are out sick with the flu, employers need to create a business plan. As luck would have it, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Flu.gov have created materials to help you, the employer, prepare.

So where to start? CDC recommends you take a look at how many staff are out sick normally and watch for an increase in the number of workers who are taking sick days in the fall and winter. Have a back-up plan to keep things running in case a lot of employees are home sick. And be prepared if schools close because of an outbreak, as that means parents may need to leave early to pick kids up from school, stay home with sick children or take them to the doctor. The best plan? Think ahead and stay flexible, says CDC.


And even though running your business is vital, it’s important that sick employees stay home, say the helpful folks at CDC, especially if they have a fever. CDC recommends that people with H1N1 flu stay home until they are fever-free for 24 hours without medication. It’s up to you, the employer, to let staff know it’s okay to stay home and that they won’t get in trouble if they do so. Otherwise, your whole office, store or restaurant staff could end up out sick. And then who would run the place?


Businesses can also do their part by stopping the spread of the flu in the workplace. Providing a clean environment is a good step, as is offering alcohol-based hand sanitizers in public areas such as lobbies, kitchens, cashier lines and restrooms. A lot of sick employees? Consider having some of them work from home for awhile, if possible.


Another tip from CDC: Stay in touch with state and local public health partners so you can receive timely and accurate information about the flu. Consider offering free flu vaccinations at your workplace. Your employees will think you are the best boss ever. And who knows? The next case of flu you could prevent could even be your own. Has your employer developed a plan to deal with an outbreak of H1N1 flu? Tell us about it by offering a comment.