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Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Fighting New Flu Strain will take Collective Vigilance

Today, Yahoo News posted an op-ed on H1N1 co-written by Secretary Napolitano, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. In the op-ed, the trio outlines progress on planning for a potential fall resurgence of the H1N1 flu virus, their coordination with local jurisdictions for quick response in case of flu outbreaks, and the importance of proper preventative measures to minimize the spread of the H1N1 virus. An excerpt below:

"Parents should talk to their employers and make child care arrangements in case their kids get sick. And if a school closes, learning shouldn't stop. Schools need to create opportunities to learn online and work with parents to find ways for students to bring textbooks and other resources home. If you're an employer, you should plan to get by with a reduced staff. You don't want an employee who's ill to spread flu in the workplace. If you're a medical provider, you should plan to handle more calls and patient visits. An outbreak will bring people who have flu and people who have flu-related symptoms or concerns into your office. To help people get ready for flu season, we've created a "one-stop" website - www.flu.gov. You'll find tips to prevent, and respond to an outbreak and checklists and fact sheets that will help families, businesses and others get prepared."


Read the full Op-Ed at The Yahoo! News

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posted by DHS @ 5:06 PM  

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1 Comments:

  • At August 12, 2009 8:46 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

    This excerpt only states the obvious. More meaningful opportunities to use public education to enhance public health have been diminished. At the early onset of H1N1 the CDC update their website daily on confirmed cases. These statistics, while only reported at the State level did offer the public some method of assessing the extent of the influenza. Thereafter, the CDC posted updates every other day, and now just weekly. Interestingly, this was aty the time that the Federal Government was clearly attempting to allay the Public's anxiety. The diminishment of reporting to the Public was coupled with the message that HINI was like any other influenza. It clearly isn't like any other influenza. We don't want to be patronized by those who govern. Give us the information,. We've have paid for its collection. We are intelligent enough to put the information into our own local context. Thank you.

     

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