Pandemic flu precautions should be taken seriously
Kathy Marsh
Issue date: 11/6/06 Section: Opinion
By Kathy Marsh
You may have noticed posters showing up around campus indicating flu prevention information. Hopefully by the time this column comes out in The Paper many of us will have been vaccinated at the Visiting Nurses Association Flu vaccination clinic that was held on campus on November 1.
If you haven't gotten the message, this is serious stuff.
The Department of Education has asked all colleges and universities to develop a plan for a pandemic flu outbreak. Pandemic means very widespread outbreak that affects a large proportion of the population. It is projected that an outbreak will occur within the next five years and it is expected that 40% of any population will be very ill for two weeks. The fatality will be high for the vulnerable populations (aged, chronically ill, young). The overall mortality rate can be as high as 50% of the population.
I really don't mean to scare anyone. I just want you to take a serious look at the posters and prevention measures that will be showing up around campus. Boxes of tissues and bottles of microbial soap will be placed in computer labs. The thing with a pandemic influenza outbreak is that it will be highly contagious and even though most of our student population does not fall into the vulnerable populations, many of us have children or older adults at home who are more susceptible.
A committee has been formed to put together a "Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Plan". They are working on plans for identifying various stages of preparedness and what needs to be done at each stage. If the flu hits our area and we need to close the college, everyone needs to be aware that it takes four days to break the infection cycle. The group has been working closely with the area health department agencies, including having a Pandemic Flu Summit here at Kirtland on December 4th - be watching for further detail.
I just want to close with letting you know THIS IS NOT a Halloween prank - this is serious stuff and we all need to be sure to take extra precautions to stay healthy during this upcoming flu season. Wash your hands often!!
You may have noticed posters showing up around campus indicating flu prevention information. Hopefully by the time this column comes out in The Paper many of us will have been vaccinated at the Visiting Nurses Association Flu vaccination clinic that was held on campus on November 1.
If you haven't gotten the message, this is serious stuff.
The Department of Education has asked all colleges and universities to develop a plan for a pandemic flu outbreak. Pandemic means very widespread outbreak that affects a large proportion of the population. It is projected that an outbreak will occur within the next five years and it is expected that 40% of any population will be very ill for two weeks. The fatality will be high for the vulnerable populations (aged, chronically ill, young). The overall mortality rate can be as high as 50% of the population.
I really don't mean to scare anyone. I just want you to take a serious look at the posters and prevention measures that will be showing up around campus. Boxes of tissues and bottles of microbial soap will be placed in computer labs. The thing with a pandemic influenza outbreak is that it will be highly contagious and even though most of our student population does not fall into the vulnerable populations, many of us have children or older adults at home who are more susceptible.
A committee has been formed to put together a "Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Plan". They are working on plans for identifying various stages of preparedness and what needs to be done at each stage. If the flu hits our area and we need to close the college, everyone needs to be aware that it takes four days to break the infection cycle. The group has been working closely with the area health department agencies, including having a Pandemic Flu Summit here at Kirtland on December 4th - be watching for further detail.
I just want to close with letting you know THIS IS NOT a Halloween prank - this is serious stuff and we all need to be sure to take extra precautions to stay healthy during this upcoming flu season. Wash your hands often!!
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