Swine Flu - 28 Utah probables now

Since public health, which is usually quite invisible, is called in on these concerns, I have been asked by a few people about this one. So, I guess it would be appropriate to address it here.

The main problem with this strain is that it is different, there is no real natural immunity because of that and we know that at any time we could get a serious strain that kills thousands, as in 1918. We have to be vigilant in case this should happen. It's also good for people to become conscious of the need to be cautious, take measures to prevent illness and its spread, and consider what kinds of personal preparedness we are lacking, should we need to remain in our homes.

The chances are good that we would not experience the mortality of the Great Flu of 1918, because we have antiviral drugs as well as antibiotics, should people get secondary bacterial complications. This along with improved overall health, nutrition, clean water, etc. will improve the outcome of any potential pandemic.

My boss, the Utah Dept. of Health Medical Director, Dr.David Sundwall, has been actively planning for such events. We are very fortunate to have such a great and competent man at the helm. He has extensive experience, besides being personable. At the department, we have been assigned duties to help in the event of any public emergency. If extra phone lines are needed 24/7 to answer public calls and give directives, we are prepared to do this with temporary call stations and laptop computers ready for service on short notice. Each employee has a bag and has been encouraged to prepare to stay at work if needed (toothbrush, change of clothes, MRE, etc.) We can also backup the local health departments if surveillance and reporting needs overtax their personnel.

We are taking it seriously because we never know when the big one will hit and if this is a false alarm - all the better. It never hurts to review our level of personal as well as community preparation, should precautionary measures and quarantines be necessary. It's always best to err on the side of caution. If it blows over this time, the public may perceive it as a "cry wolf" and next time not take it seriously next time, but if it gets big and deadly and we didn't respond, public outcry would be loud and clear.

I'm just glad our director was able to convince the legislature that we need to continue as an intact department when budget crunches caused attempts to dissolve the department. This is the problem with the invisibility of public health. If you're doing your job it is not noticed but it is in every level of community from food safety, infectious diseases, mortality review, to environment, air quality, child health, oral health, violence and injury, etc. etc. etc.

Click the post title to see what May Clinic has to say about this. H1N1 (Swine Flu) info from the CDC is here, including numbers of cases throughout the country.