CDC Kicks Off National Travelers’ Health Public Awareness Campaign Effort Aims to Educate Travelers about H1N1
Every holiday season, millions of Americans travel through the nation’s airports, seaports, and train stations to spend time with loved ones. Special holiday get-togethers – and traveling itself – bring people close together but also provide an ideal way for illness to spread. To help travelers avoid the flu this holiday season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today launched its largest ever public awareness campaign about staying healthy while traveling.
“The holidays are one of the busiest travel times of the year,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “People are in close contact – whether they’re on a plane, train, ship or just visiting with loved ones. This campaign provides practical advice to help travelers prepare for their trips and stay healthy during their holiday travel.”
CDC is urging people to take the following steps when planning their travel and to stay informed about what to do if they get sick while they’re gone, including:
• Traveling only when they are feeling well • Getting vaccinated for flu (both seasonal flu and 2009 H1N1 if they are in a priority group) • Washing hands often • Covering coughs and sneezes with a tissue or sleeve
“We know that flu – and specifically H1N1 this year – is a big concern for people, but flu shouldn’t ruin the holidays,” Dr. Schuchat said. “By practicing a little prevention, people can enjoy their holidays and stay well at the same time.”
CDC developed the campaign in response to the emergence in April of the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic. Since then, flu has spread throughout the country and around the world. In the United States, it has accounted for millions of cases and more than 4,000 deaths since April.
CDC launched the campaign at a joint event with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano today in Washington, DC. The campaign will run through the holiday season and use a variety of media, including informational posters at major airports, ports of entry and border crossings; national radio and print advertising; and social media and online outreach. CDC will also partner with local health departments, travel professionals, health care professionals, and colleges and universities to further educate the public. Campaign themes include “Prevention can be Travel-Sized” and “Stop, Wash and Go.”
For more information about the CDC Travelers’ Health campaign, recommendations regarding travel, visit http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/content/novel-h1n1-flu.aspx. For more information about the H1N1 virus, visit www.flu.gov.
Showing posts with label CDC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CDC. Show all posts
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Douglas County gets more vacine for H1N1
More swine flu vaccine will soon be on its way to Douglas County and three clinics are planned this week to provide the vaccine to those who are most at risk of contracting swine flu, officially known as the H1N1 influenza.
As of Thursday, 8,100 doses of H1N1 vaccine have arrived in Douglas County, according to a news release. Douglas County Public Health expects another 3,100 doses to arrive sometime in the next week. The vaccine will be made available to registered H1N1 influenza providers and to people who are at greatest risk of contracting swine flu at three planned clinics. The priority groups, in no particular order: Those ages six months to 24 years old; pregnant women; people caring for, or living with, infants who are younger than six months of age; people from the ages of 25 to 64 who have health conditions that may put them at risk for complications from influenza — such as asthma, immune deficiencies, lung or heart disease and diabetes; health care workers and emergency medical service providers; law enforcement officers and firefighters who have frequent physical contact with the public as a part of their usual work; correction personnel in state prisons, local jails and juvenile correctional facilities who come into contact with adult or juvenile offenders; and public safety emergency telecommunications workers, including 911 call-takers and dispatchers.
The Roseburg Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, State Department of Corrections, Oregon National Guard, Oregon State Hospital and Oregon Youth Authority receive their own H1N1 vaccine allocations to vaccinate their respective populations.H1N1 flu symptoms are similar to the symptoms of seasonal flu. They include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, runny or stuffy nose, headache, nausea, chills and fatigue. Some people have reported diarrhea and vomiting due to H1N1 flu.
Most people will recover on their own after a week or so of illness and don't need to see a doctor, the release said. In other cases, though, it might be necessary to seek medical attention.
People who have severe illness or are at high risk for flu complications should contact their health care providers, the release said. People who don't have access to health care may call the Oregon Flu Hotline at 1-800-978-3040 and talk with a health information specialist.
According to the CDC, people should only seek care in the emergency room if they are very sick, the release said. If you have the emergency warning signs of flu sickness, that's when you should go to the emergency room.
For more information, visit the following — Oregon Flu Web site, www.flu.oregon.gov or the county Health Department Web site, www.co.douglas.or.us/health — or call the Health Department Flu Info Line at 464-3815.
As of Thursday, 8,100 doses of H1N1 vaccine have arrived in Douglas County, according to a news release. Douglas County Public Health expects another 3,100 doses to arrive sometime in the next week. The vaccine will be made available to registered H1N1 influenza providers and to people who are at greatest risk of contracting swine flu at three planned clinics. The priority groups, in no particular order: Those ages six months to 24 years old; pregnant women; people caring for, or living with, infants who are younger than six months of age; people from the ages of 25 to 64 who have health conditions that may put them at risk for complications from influenza — such as asthma, immune deficiencies, lung or heart disease and diabetes; health care workers and emergency medical service providers; law enforcement officers and firefighters who have frequent physical contact with the public as a part of their usual work; correction personnel in state prisons, local jails and juvenile correctional facilities who come into contact with adult or juvenile offenders; and public safety emergency telecommunications workers, including 911 call-takers and dispatchers.
The Roseburg Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, State Department of Corrections, Oregon National Guard, Oregon State Hospital and Oregon Youth Authority receive their own H1N1 vaccine allocations to vaccinate their respective populations.H1N1 flu symptoms are similar to the symptoms of seasonal flu. They include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, runny or stuffy nose, headache, nausea, chills and fatigue. Some people have reported diarrhea and vomiting due to H1N1 flu.
Most people will recover on their own after a week or so of illness and don't need to see a doctor, the release said. In other cases, though, it might be necessary to seek medical attention.
People who have severe illness or are at high risk for flu complications should contact their health care providers, the release said. People who don't have access to health care may call the Oregon Flu Hotline at 1-800-978-3040 and talk with a health information specialist.
According to the CDC, people should only seek care in the emergency room if they are very sick, the release said. If you have the emergency warning signs of flu sickness, that's when you should go to the emergency room.
For more information, visit the following — Oregon Flu Web site, www.flu.oregon.gov or the county Health Department Web site, www.co.douglas.or.us/health — or call the Health Department Flu Info Line at 464-3815.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Update on Flu vacines in parts of Portland Metro area
Vaccine:
The H1N1 vaccine remains in short supply nationwide due to delays by manufacturers producing the vaccine.
In the Portland area, the delays mean some public clinics have been canceled. Other clinics are offering only a limited number of doses. The small amounts currently available are being targeted toward children under five years of age and pregnant women, who are six times more likely to die from H1N1. Some counties are also reaching out to school children.
The production delay has led CDC officials to revise downward their vaccine delivery targets by 25 percent through the end of October. CDC officials say the revision reflects the unpredictability of the manufacturing process, which involved growing the virus in chicken eggs. Two manufacturers achieved smaller yields from this process than they had projected.
Health officials continue to expect that shipments will ramp up and availability of the vaccine will increase.
Shipments arriving in the Portland metro area this week will be about the same size as last week’s batch. Here is the rough breakdown of what is expected here:
County Doses
Clackamas 3,100
Multnomah 6,000
Washington 4,500
Earlier this month marked the first time that some clinics received injectable vaccine, which contains a H1N1 virus that has been “inactivated” or killed.
Until now, the only form of vaccine available was the FluMist nasal spray. Because FluMist contains a live flu virus, it is only appropriate for healthy people age 2 to 49. Pregnant women and children under age 2 need the injectable vaccine, which contains virus that has been “inactivated” or killed.
Outbreaks
From Sept. 1 throught Oct. 21 , a total of 449 people in Oregon were hospitalized and 15 died from Influenza A virus. Not all of these patients were tested for H1N1, but nationally nearly all samples that have been laboratory sub-typed in recent weeks were H1N1.
All Influenza A cases, Sept. 1 through Oct. 21
County Hospitalizations Deaths
Clackamas 46 0
Clark and Region IV 15 0
Columbia 0 0
Multnomah 62 1
Washington 54 0
Schools throughout the region report seeing an increase of absences due to influenza-like illness.
Response
Oregon has now adopted a temporary rule allowing some emergency medical technicians and paramedics to administer flue vaccine to the general public. Before, EMTs could only vaccinate other EMTs. Clark County, Wash., adopted similar rules.
State and county epidemiologists are monitoring school absences and reports of hospitalizations to track the spread of the virus.
Public information officers regionally are pooling information and coordinating availability of key spokesperons in response to requests from news organizations.
The H1N1 vaccine remains in short supply nationwide due to delays by manufacturers producing the vaccine.
In the Portland area, the delays mean some public clinics have been canceled. Other clinics are offering only a limited number of doses. The small amounts currently available are being targeted toward children under five years of age and pregnant women, who are six times more likely to die from H1N1. Some counties are also reaching out to school children.
The production delay has led CDC officials to revise downward their vaccine delivery targets by 25 percent through the end of October. CDC officials say the revision reflects the unpredictability of the manufacturing process, which involved growing the virus in chicken eggs. Two manufacturers achieved smaller yields from this process than they had projected.
Health officials continue to expect that shipments will ramp up and availability of the vaccine will increase.
Shipments arriving in the Portland metro area this week will be about the same size as last week’s batch. Here is the rough breakdown of what is expected here:
County Doses
Clackamas 3,100
Multnomah 6,000
Washington 4,500
Earlier this month marked the first time that some clinics received injectable vaccine, which contains a H1N1 virus that has been “inactivated” or killed.
Until now, the only form of vaccine available was the FluMist nasal spray. Because FluMist contains a live flu virus, it is only appropriate for healthy people age 2 to 49. Pregnant women and children under age 2 need the injectable vaccine, which contains virus that has been “inactivated” or killed.
Outbreaks
From Sept. 1 throught Oct. 21 , a total of 449 people in Oregon were hospitalized and 15 died from Influenza A virus. Not all of these patients were tested for H1N1, but nationally nearly all samples that have been laboratory sub-typed in recent weeks were H1N1.
All Influenza A cases, Sept. 1 through Oct. 21
County Hospitalizations Deaths
Clackamas 46 0
Clark and Region IV 15 0
Columbia 0 0
Multnomah 62 1
Washington 54 0
Schools throughout the region report seeing an increase of absences due to influenza-like illness.
Response
Oregon has now adopted a temporary rule allowing some emergency medical technicians and paramedics to administer flue vaccine to the general public. Before, EMTs could only vaccinate other EMTs. Clark County, Wash., adopted similar rules.
State and county epidemiologists are monitoring school absences and reports of hospitalizations to track the spread of the virus.
Public information officers regionally are pooling information and coordinating availability of key spokesperons in response to requests from news organizations.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
CDC Leery of Estimates About Swine Flu's Toll
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/08/26/health/AP-US-MED-Swine-Flu.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print
Filed at 4:38 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Government health officials are urging people not to panic over estimates of 90,000 people dying from swine flu this fall.
''Everything we've seen in the U.S. and everything we've seen around the world suggests we won't see that kind of number if the virus doesn't change,'' Dr. Thomas Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a C-SPAN interview taped Wednesday.
While the swine flu seems quite easy to catch, it so far hasn't been more deadly than the flu strains seen every fall and winter -- many people have only mild illness. And close genetic tracking of the new virus as it circled the globe over the last five months so far has shown no sign that it's mutating to become more virulent.
Still, the CDC has been preparing for a worst-case flu season as a precaution -- in July working from an estimate slightly more grim than one that made headlines this week -- to make sure that if the virus suddenly worsened or vaccination plans fell through, health authorities would know how to react.
On Monday the White House released a report from a group of presidential advisers that included a scenario where anywhere from 30 percent to half of the population could catch what doctors call the ''2009 H1N1'' flu, and death possibilities ranged from 30,000 to 90,000. In a regular flu season, up to 20 percent of the population is infected and 36,000 die.
''We don't think that's the most likely scenario,'' CDC flu specialist Dr. Anne Schuchat said of the presidential advisers' high-end tally.
What's really expected this year? CDC won't speculate, finding a numbers game pointless as it tries to balance getting a largely complacent public to listen to its flu instructions without hyping the threat.
Along with how the virus itself continues to act, the ultimate toll depends on such things as vaccinations beginning as planned -- currently set for mid-October -- and whether the people who need them most get them. CDC also is working to help hospitals keep the not-so-sick from crowding emergency rooms and to properly target anti-flu drugs to the most vulnerable.
What is likely: A busy flu season that starts earlier than usual, Schuchat told The Associated Press. This new H1N1 strain never went away over the summer, infecting children at summer camps in particular. Already clusters of illnesses are being reported at some schools and colleges around the country,
Filed at 4:38 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Government health officials are urging people not to panic over estimates of 90,000 people dying from swine flu this fall.
''Everything we've seen in the U.S. and everything we've seen around the world suggests we won't see that kind of number if the virus doesn't change,'' Dr. Thomas Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a C-SPAN interview taped Wednesday.
While the swine flu seems quite easy to catch, it so far hasn't been more deadly than the flu strains seen every fall and winter -- many people have only mild illness. And close genetic tracking of the new virus as it circled the globe over the last five months so far has shown no sign that it's mutating to become more virulent.
Still, the CDC has been preparing for a worst-case flu season as a precaution -- in July working from an estimate slightly more grim than one that made headlines this week -- to make sure that if the virus suddenly worsened or vaccination plans fell through, health authorities would know how to react.
On Monday the White House released a report from a group of presidential advisers that included a scenario where anywhere from 30 percent to half of the population could catch what doctors call the ''2009 H1N1'' flu, and death possibilities ranged from 30,000 to 90,000. In a regular flu season, up to 20 percent of the population is infected and 36,000 die.
''We don't think that's the most likely scenario,'' CDC flu specialist Dr. Anne Schuchat said of the presidential advisers' high-end tally.
What's really expected this year? CDC won't speculate, finding a numbers game pointless as it tries to balance getting a largely complacent public to listen to its flu instructions without hyping the threat.
Along with how the virus itself continues to act, the ultimate toll depends on such things as vaccinations beginning as planned -- currently set for mid-October -- and whether the people who need them most get them. CDC also is working to help hospitals keep the not-so-sick from crowding emergency rooms and to properly target anti-flu drugs to the most vulnerable.
What is likely: A busy flu season that starts earlier than usual, Schuchat told The Associated Press. This new H1N1 strain never went away over the summer, infecting children at summer camps in particular. Already clusters of illnesses are being reported at some schools and colleges around the country,
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