Green County Health Department officials, and members of area emergency management, Monroe school district and Monroe Clinic should be recognized for how they are handling this year's flu season, given the added pressure of a potentially explosive spread of the H1N1 flu virus and the slow growing vaccine to help treat it; not to mention most of the area's seasonal flu vaccine is depleted or spent.
The four parties have formed a community planning committee to monitor updates and stay in contact regarding information from the state Department of Health Services, and even pool resources of H1N1 flu vaccine when it becomes available.
"The nice thing with working with the Monroe Clinic, we can share," said RoAnn Warden, health officer with the Green County Health Department, in an interview with the Times last week.
The four sectors of the community have a daunting task in controlling the response to the high demand for seasonal flu vaccine and the H1N1 flu vaccine shortage.
On Sept. 30, Green County Health Department ordered 6,000 doses of H1N1 flu vaccine, but only received about 200, Warden said.
The health department along with members of the committee were wise to heed the Centers for Disease Control guidelines for dispersing what H1N1 flu vaccine the agencies do have. The guidelines include vaccinating health care workers in contact with patients first, then vaccinating pregnant women. Next, people who live or care for infants younger than 7 months would be treated, followed by children six months to 4 years. Finally, people ages 5 to 18 with chronic medical conditions that put them at higher risk for flu complications would receive the vaccine.
After that, Warden said, the health department would like to get into schools, and set up other means, possibly clinics, to get the H1N1 vaccine to the public.
Having a plan to disperse the vaccine is a good step, but the different organizations also are promoting ways to stay current on flu news.
Information regarding H1N1 flu can be found on the Times' Web site, www.themonroetimes.com, by clicking on the Monroe Clinic advertisement. Also, both the Monroe Clinic and the county health department have established Web sites, www.monroeclinic.org/h1n1, and www.greencountyhealth.org, to issue updates on the H1N1 flu vaccine and promote ways to stay healthy during the flu season.
If you can't get a vaccination for the H1N1 flu now, be patient, more vaccine is coming, Warden said. In the meantime, health care officials on the committee recommend taking basic precautions to avoid getting sick. Those steps include washing your hands regularly, coughing or sneezing into your sleeve, and staying home from work if you are sick.
Flu season has the potential to impact everyone in the Monroe area, and it is good to see efforts like that of the community planning committee when health threats encroach our daily lives.
The four parties have formed a community planning committee to monitor updates and stay in contact regarding information from the state Department of Health Services, and even pool resources of H1N1 flu vaccine when it becomes available.
"The nice thing with working with the Monroe Clinic, we can share," said RoAnn Warden, health officer with the Green County Health Department, in an interview with the Times last week.
The four sectors of the community have a daunting task in controlling the response to the high demand for seasonal flu vaccine and the H1N1 flu vaccine shortage.
On Sept. 30, Green County Health Department ordered 6,000 doses of H1N1 flu vaccine, but only received about 200, Warden said.
The health department along with members of the committee were wise to heed the Centers for Disease Control guidelines for dispersing what H1N1 flu vaccine the agencies do have. The guidelines include vaccinating health care workers in contact with patients first, then vaccinating pregnant women. Next, people who live or care for infants younger than 7 months would be treated, followed by children six months to 4 years. Finally, people ages 5 to 18 with chronic medical conditions that put them at higher risk for flu complications would receive the vaccine.
After that, Warden said, the health department would like to get into schools, and set up other means, possibly clinics, to get the H1N1 vaccine to the public.
Having a plan to disperse the vaccine is a good step, but the different organizations also are promoting ways to stay current on flu news.
Information regarding H1N1 flu can be found on the Times' Web site, www.themonroetimes.com, by clicking on the Monroe Clinic advertisement. Also, both the Monroe Clinic and the county health department have established Web sites, www.monroeclinic.org/h1n1, and www.greencountyhealth.org, to issue updates on the H1N1 flu vaccine and promote ways to stay healthy during the flu season.
If you can't get a vaccination for the H1N1 flu now, be patient, more vaccine is coming, Warden said. In the meantime, health care officials on the committee recommend taking basic precautions to avoid getting sick. Those steps include washing your hands regularly, coughing or sneezing into your sleeve, and staying home from work if you are sick.
Flu season has the potential to impact everyone in the Monroe area, and it is good to see efforts like that of the community planning committee when health threats encroach our daily lives.
