RSSH1N1 -- more than an ounce of prevention
Yakima Herald-Republic
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YAKIMA, Wash. -- School janitors wipe down light switches several times a day. Some classrooms are half empty. One rural school in the Horse Heaven Hills even closed for two days.
The swine flu is still in its early stages, but doctors say the patient count is climbing.
"We are definitely seeing more people with the flu," said Dr. Craig Whittlesey of Ahtanum Ridge Family Medicine in Union Gap.
Federal health officials estimate that between 95 percent and 99 percent of the cases are now actually swine flu.
And along with the aches and pains, there's frustration and confusion as demand for both the seasonal and swine flu vaccine outpaces supply.
Many doctors' offices and stores where the vaccines are administered say they're running out of the vaccine for seasonal flu. And officials say shipments of the H1N1 (or swine flu) vaccine are trickling in for distribution to priority clinics.
The nasal version of the vaccine -- recommended only for healthy children and adults -- is available at several sites around the county, including most Safeway grocery stores.
But adequate supplies of the injectable swine flu vaccine are still at least three weeks away by most estimates. For the first time in memory, vaccine companies are manufacturing two vaccines at once, and it's taxing their production ability.
What's more, the swine flu virus is proving a little more difficult to grow. The virus is injected into chicken eggs to be grown into larger quantities. But health officials say the method isn't proving as productive as usual.
Marianne Patnode, communicable diseases coordinator for the Yakima County Health District, said she's taking lots of phone calls from worried parents who want their children injected right away because they have underlying health conditions such as asthma. Pregnant women, too, are a top priority for the injectable version of the virus.
"It's very frustrating to people and I totally understand," Patnode said.
The health district had nearly 100 providers ask for the vaccine. Officials there parcel it out based on which clinics are likely to reach the greatest number of people in the various risk groups.
Those thought to be at higher risk for H1N1 flu include health-care workers, pregnant women and persons between the age of 6 months and 24 years.
Patnode said people may get both the swine and seasonal flu shot at the same time. Only if they are getting nasal versions of both, which is a live virus, should they wait 30 days between vaccinations.
So far this year, many area schools have seen significant absentee rates -- often well above 10 percent.
"It's been a little bit of a crazy month," said Jessica Brown, a spokeswoman for the health district and the agency's school liaison.
However, few schools have considered closing.
Paterson School District, a 102-student kindergarten-through-grade 8 school in the Horse Heaven Hills south of Prosser, is the exception. Absentee rates reached 25 percent while four of 10 teachers were out. School leaders finally told all students to stay home the week of Oct. 11 while workers disinfected the school.
"It made a huge difference for us," said Superintendent Peggy Douglas. "The flu pretty much ran its course." Only two or three children have been out per day since then.
The flu led to a secondary infection of pneumonia for one Paterson student, eighth-grader Kate Burnett of Prosser.
"That was scary," said her mother, Monica Burnett.
The 13-year-old began getting sick with a fever and cough, which seemed to subside in a few days. She tried going back to school one day, only to have a fever spike at more than 103 degrees the next day. She has been to school one day out of the last two weeks.
"She's very social; she doesn't like to be at home," said Monica Burnett.
In Pasco, a 5-month-old baby with other health problems became the first child in the state to die of the flu. By late last week, the federal Centers for Disease Control said national swine flu deaths had surpassed 1,000.
Local and national health officials advise schools to close only if the flu has struck so many students and staff that it's nearly impossible to operate.
No schools in the Yakima Valley have done it.
"I cannot imagine us closing," said Becky Scholl, executive director of student services for the Yakima School District. She has received many phone calls from parents suggesting they do.
Last week's districtwide absentee rates were about 17 percent, roughly equal to the same week last year, Scholl said. However, some Yakima area classrooms have seen unusually high spikes of absenteeism.
On Oct. 9, only 12 of 25 students showed up at a third-grade class at West Valley's Summitview Elementary. School nurses found five more kids with fevers and sent them home.
Principal Crystal McDonald then called the parents of the remaining seven children; six of them went home as a precaution.
One girl wanted to stay so badly she sat in with the third-grade class next door.
"She hung out and she was happy," McDonald said.
School officials usually tell parents to keep sick children home for at least 24 hours after a fever has broken without the aid of fever-reducing medication.
Schools began the year on high alert, asking custodians to disinfect surfaces such as door knobs, light switches and walls once a day. They are on extreme alert now.
Toppenish custodians have been disinfecting walls in the cafeteria at Garfield Elementary School before lunch and at night, said Deborah Fielding, the lead district nurse.
A janitor at St. Joseph's-Marquette Catholic School in Yakima constantly wipes down drinking fountains and sinks. Students everywhere know they can look for hand sanitizer dispensers mounted in the walls of their hallways, and even keyboards and phone pads get an occasionally shot of disinfectant.
"I think we've been very proactive this year," Fielding said.
* Ross Courtney can be reached at 509-930-8978 or rcourtney@yakimaherald.com; Leah Beth Ward can be reached at 509-577-7626 or lward@yakimaherald.com.
Sadly this seems to be the only way to get the schools proactive at being clean and sanitary. Schools are breeding grounds for infections and illnesses. A child can pick up MRSA in gym class so easily. Many schools have not provided the necessary items to sanitize equipment. Hopefully when the swine flu has blown over that we all have learned the lesson of being more sanitary.
Report ViolationWhat the heck is Dr. Phil doing working as a janitor? Oh, wait thats not him. I had a fever for like 5 days. I thought I was going to die. I don't know what that was. Was it the Swine Flu? Who knows.
Report ViolationDr. Phil?? He finally found his calling? Great.
Report ViolationPersonal hygiene and reasonable/practical sanitation methods are key to reducing exposure to swine flu however these measures will not absolutely prevent it. Also, unless schools do not have soap, water and the typical cleaning solutions that have been used for decades, they have the "necessary items," nothing short of an autoclave.
There are several variables that constitute a pathological epidemic. Many communicable diseases have the potential to spread in areas where there is a lot of social congregation such as grocery stores, schools, university dormitories and family homes where one person gets sick and others rotate through the course of the disease are common public health cases.
I would at least hope that janitorial/environmental services for these schools are keeping floors clean, helping clean up messes and making sure that the facilities are neat, tidy and presentable. But socially, we as a people need to take responsibility as well. It is not uncommon to see people use restrooms without washing hands, coughing without covering and children playing on the playground and never washing up afterwards.
We need to take responsibility for our own health as well. Being "clean and sanitary" dose not mean sterilization. In addition, MRSA can be picked up easily almost anywhere in a school, not just gym class. How many students socialize with their friends and never think about where that person's hands have been?
Schools can only do so much but it is important we all make keep in mind good personal hygiene.
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