Flu times two

Jon Donnelly, program coordinator of the Medical Reserve Corps, prepares to receive his flu shot at the health department. Lisa Billings/Chesterfield Observer With flu season upon us – and the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, adding a new twist to things – Chesterfield County is ramping up its prevention efforts and preparing for whatever may come.

“[Our preparation efforts] are significantly different this year in terms of their breadth,” says Dr. William R. Nelson, director of the Chesterfield County Health Department. “We’re definitely more active with the prevention message. The scope of the vaccination program is much broader and more intensive in every way. It’s going to consume a lot of our resources over the next 60 days.”

Swine flu currently makes up about 98 percent of flu cases, according to Dr. Al Rogers of Internal Medicine Associates of Chesterfield. Last weekend, Virginia joined 20 other states in reporting widespread cases of the swine flu, a trend that started in the southeastern region of the country and seems to be spreading quickly.

Hand cleaner helps contain the flu virus. Lisa Billings/Chesterfield Observer Nelson attributes the increase to schoolchildren – one of the most affected populations – returning to school and sharing the virus. He is unsure what to expect from the resurgence.

“I’m anticipating surprises because this is a novel strain, and it’s not following a typical pattern,” he says. “It was unusual to see so much flu when it erupted in May, and it didn’t entirely go away, and now it seems to be coming back. If that projection continues, we’ll have a fair amount of mild to moderate influenza in late September or early October.”

Nelson’s department has been working with various county organizations and businesses to spread the word on prevention. He recommends that everyone get the seasonal flu vaccination, which is available now, as well as the H1N1 vaccination, which will become available in October. Flu shots are distributed through medical practitioners, pharmacies, grocery stores and other providers.

“The county is planning several large, open mass immunization clinics for people who could not get the vaccine otherwise,” adds Nelson.

Since school-age children fall within a high-risk group – persons 6 months to 24 years of age – the health department is also working with schools to provide school-based vaccinations. Other high-risk groups include pregnant women, medical personnel that have direct patient-care responsibility and people that care for infants less than 6 months of age.

“We’d like to target those first,” explains Nelson, who does not anticipate a shortage of vaccines. “We’re not going to turn people away, but we expect people to look out for our most vulnerable population, and let them get vaccinated first.”

In addition to vaccinations, the health department is emphasizing traditional methods of prevention: washing hands frequently, covering one’s cough, avoiding sick people and staying home when you’re sick.

“We’re also working with Chesterfield government in terms of customer service areas and public areas to make sure tissues and hand cleaner are available,” says Nelson. “The schools have implemented hand-washing instruction. They’ve made supplies of waterless hand cleaner available. We’ve got soap and towels in the bathrooms, and they’re working on cleaning surfaces. Everybody’s worked on their continuity of business plan in case they have a lot of absentees due to influenza so the most important business will always be conducted in a timely fashion.”

For its part, Chesterfield Fire & EMS is preparing for the worst.

“We’re working with the hospitals to set up secondary centers to send flu-like patients if the emergency rooms get overwhelmed,” says Dr. Alan Yee, the department’s medical director. “We’ve got in place some concepts for protocol changes should this event be truly devastating. We’re prepared to completely change the way we do business.”

Only time will tell if that will be necessary.

“When this is over, we want the people in our community to know that all the healthcare institutions in their community pulled together and did everything possible together to protect them,” says Nelson. “I think that’s happening in Chesterfield.”