MONROE - Health care and emergency management experts advise people to take a hard line on preventing the spread of the H1N1 virus.
"Stay home" if you have the symptoms, and increase hand washing and disinfecting protocols everywhere, they advised.
Members of Green County's leading health care organizations assembled to separate the facts from fiction Monday at Monroe Clinic's Founders Hall. About 40 community members attended.
The panelists, Mary Flynn, coordinator of Monroe Clinic Infection Control; RoAnn Warden, director of Green County Health Department; Lori Soderberg, Monroe School District nurse; Tanna McKeon from the Green County Emergency Management; and Dr. CJ Smith of Monroe Clinic, presented information from the first signs of the virus when it arose in April to the current practices being advised today.
Information on the H1N1 virus from the Center for Disease Control Center has changed since this spring. Expect the pandemic to last two to three years with several waves of illness, Flynn said.
"Businesses are being asked to relax their sick leave policies of seeking medical attention, usually after three days, if employees have flu-like symptoms," McKeon said. "Because we don't need doctors overwhelmed."
"This is a whole new world they haven't had to deal with before - not like injuries," Soderberg said.
People become "dog, dog sick, and can barely move," said Dr. Smith.
Soderberg said parents, now more aware of possible H1N1 infections, have been keeping children home who have flu-like symptoms. The rate of absentees has risen, and schools are separating injuries from illness numbers to determine the actual absentee rates compared to last year.
Wisconsin has had 6,432 confirmed cases of H1NI, also known as "swine flu," with 8 deaths and 239 people hospitalized. Green County had three confirmed cases this summer. That number is expected to rise, as students, particularly college students, return to school.
H1N1 is spread much like seasonal flu.
The virus is spread by respiratory droplets from the mouth during a sneeze or cough, and can infect other people up to six feet away. The virus also can be transmitted from infected surfaces to the next person, who then touches an eye, nose or mouth.
An infected person can be contagious 24 hours prior to showing symptoms, and is potentially contagious for as long as symptoms are present and for an additional 24 hours afterward.
People who have been ill are asked to stay home for 24 hours after a fever has returned to normal without fever-reducing medicines.
H1N1 symptoms include normal seasonal flu - fever of 100.4 or above, sore throat, and coughing - as well as headaches, runny nose, body aches and fatigue, and vomiting or diarrhea.
Caregivers are advised to wear face masks to prevent contracting the virus. Keep patients separated from others in the home. Keep tissues and wastebaskets close to patients, and watch for signs of dehydration, especially in small children and the elderly.
Do not give children or teens aspirin to reduce fever, because it can cause Reye's Syndrome.
Testing for the H1N1 virus is not being done. Smith said test results take three to four days, by which time the patient is well on the way to recovery, and anti-viral medicines need to be started within 48 hours of the first symptoms.
Patients should seek emergency medical care if symptoms continue to worsen or in the case of severe symptoms, such as difficult breathing, coughing up blood, confusion or non-responsiveness, convulsions, or chest pains or pressures.
A limited supply of first doses of H1N1 vaccines are due to arrive in Green County sometime in October, according to Warden.
At that time, the health departments will follow a plan to vaccinate those most vulnerable to the virus: Pregnant women, caregivers of children less than 6 months old, people ages 6 months through 24 years, emergency service and health care personnel, and people 24-64 with chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems.
Students will be targeted, hopefully by the end of October when the second supply arrives, with vaccinations at the schools.
McKeon advised everyone to prepare emergency kits for their home, which should include supplies for at least three days; and don't forget your pets, she said.
When ill, a person should not have to venture out into public for food, water, medicine or other supplies, and ask people to check up on you by phone, she said.
For more information or answers to your questions contact the Green County Health Department, Monroe Clinic, your health care provider, PandemicWisconsin.gov, or the CDC at www.cdc.gov.
"Stay home" if you have the symptoms, and increase hand washing and disinfecting protocols everywhere, they advised.
Members of Green County's leading health care organizations assembled to separate the facts from fiction Monday at Monroe Clinic's Founders Hall. About 40 community members attended.
The panelists, Mary Flynn, coordinator of Monroe Clinic Infection Control; RoAnn Warden, director of Green County Health Department; Lori Soderberg, Monroe School District nurse; Tanna McKeon from the Green County Emergency Management; and Dr. CJ Smith of Monroe Clinic, presented information from the first signs of the virus when it arose in April to the current practices being advised today.
Information on the H1N1 virus from the Center for Disease Control Center has changed since this spring. Expect the pandemic to last two to three years with several waves of illness, Flynn said.
"Businesses are being asked to relax their sick leave policies of seeking medical attention, usually after three days, if employees have flu-like symptoms," McKeon said. "Because we don't need doctors overwhelmed."
"This is a whole new world they haven't had to deal with before - not like injuries," Soderberg said.
People become "dog, dog sick, and can barely move," said Dr. Smith.
Soderberg said parents, now more aware of possible H1N1 infections, have been keeping children home who have flu-like symptoms. The rate of absentees has risen, and schools are separating injuries from illness numbers to determine the actual absentee rates compared to last year.
Wisconsin has had 6,432 confirmed cases of H1NI, also known as "swine flu," with 8 deaths and 239 people hospitalized. Green County had three confirmed cases this summer. That number is expected to rise, as students, particularly college students, return to school.
H1N1 is spread much like seasonal flu.
The virus is spread by respiratory droplets from the mouth during a sneeze or cough, and can infect other people up to six feet away. The virus also can be transmitted from infected surfaces to the next person, who then touches an eye, nose or mouth.
An infected person can be contagious 24 hours prior to showing symptoms, and is potentially contagious for as long as symptoms are present and for an additional 24 hours afterward.
People who have been ill are asked to stay home for 24 hours after a fever has returned to normal without fever-reducing medicines.
H1N1 symptoms include normal seasonal flu - fever of 100.4 or above, sore throat, and coughing - as well as headaches, runny nose, body aches and fatigue, and vomiting or diarrhea.
Caregivers are advised to wear face masks to prevent contracting the virus. Keep patients separated from others in the home. Keep tissues and wastebaskets close to patients, and watch for signs of dehydration, especially in small children and the elderly.
Do not give children or teens aspirin to reduce fever, because it can cause Reye's Syndrome.
Testing for the H1N1 virus is not being done. Smith said test results take three to four days, by which time the patient is well on the way to recovery, and anti-viral medicines need to be started within 48 hours of the first symptoms.
Patients should seek emergency medical care if symptoms continue to worsen or in the case of severe symptoms, such as difficult breathing, coughing up blood, confusion or non-responsiveness, convulsions, or chest pains or pressures.
A limited supply of first doses of H1N1 vaccines are due to arrive in Green County sometime in October, according to Warden.
At that time, the health departments will follow a plan to vaccinate those most vulnerable to the virus: Pregnant women, caregivers of children less than 6 months old, people ages 6 months through 24 years, emergency service and health care personnel, and people 24-64 with chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems.
Students will be targeted, hopefully by the end of October when the second supply arrives, with vaccinations at the schools.
McKeon advised everyone to prepare emergency kits for their home, which should include supplies for at least three days; and don't forget your pets, she said.
When ill, a person should not have to venture out into public for food, water, medicine or other supplies, and ask people to check up on you by phone, she said.
For more information or answers to your questions contact the Green County Health Department, Monroe Clinic, your health care provider, PandemicWisconsin.gov, or the CDC at www.cdc.gov.