With the arrival of H1N1 flu vaccine still a few weeks away, local agencies are putting all their resources toward prevention.
Health officials estimate that the vaccine will arrive sometime during the first or second week of October.
It is unclear how many vaccines will be available on the island.
On Bainbridge, it remains unknown how many cases of swine flu have been identified.
“We know that H1N1 is on Bainbridge Island,” said Scott Daniels, deputy director of health for the county. “It never went away, it just subsided.”
Countywide, Daniels gave an anecdotal estimate of 1,000 cases since the onset of the virus in April.
Local clinics are seeing an uptick in flu patients, but health officials said they don’t test for H1N1 in all flu patients, so an exact number of cases on the island is unknown.
At this stage, early in the influenza season, taking care of oneself to prevent rapid spreading of the virus is crucial, Daniels said. Health officials recommend many of the same steps used to avoid the seasonal flu.
“Because flu is spread mainly person to person mainly through coughing and sneezing, it’s important to do some of the things your mom would recommend you do,” Daniels said.
Swine flu and the school district
Right now, the Bainbridge Island School District is focusing its message on prevention of H1N1 influenza.
“That is absolutely what we can emphasize again and again, over and over,” BISD spokesperson Pam Keyes said. “Wash your hands, cover your cough, call in sick.”
On its website and in an email sent to parents last week, the school district recommended that all family members:
- Clean hands often with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
- Cover coughs using the arm instead of the hand when a tissue is not available.
- Avoid touching eyes, nose, or mouth.
- Stay home when ill until at least 24 hours after a fever has dissipated without the aid of fever-reducing medicines.
Hand sanitizer is available in classrooms along with soap and water; teachers throughout the district are aware of the need to encourage hand-washing at school, Keyes said.
One member of the Bainbridge High School marching band was diagnosed with a confirmed case of H1N1 influenza prior to the start of school, but BISD is not tracking the number of H1N1 cases or cataloguing symptoms in absentees, Keyes said. That’s partly because although school secretaries keep a tally of every absence due to illness, it’s difficult to determine the causing illness even if the parent leaving a message on the school absentee line notes H1N1 symptoms or suspects H1N1.
As far as reporting goes, BISD is taking the recommendation of the Kitsap County Health District, which is to follow the same same protocol for reporting H1N1/swine flu as it does for reporting seasonal flu: When the absentee rate reaches 10 percent or more of all students enrolled in any school in the district, school nurses will report the absences to KCHD, which then investigates the causes; BISD then consults with KCHD regarding case reporting to staff and parents.
Keyes said the school district has a pandemic flu plan that was recently revised and that it is in the process of reviewing. The plan includes everything from preparation to mitigation to response.
Should a significant number of staff members become ill and absent at once, BISD would turn first to its substitute pool, and not rule out flexible teaching solutions such as working electronically, Keyes said. If the situation escalated dramatically enough, BISD would consult with the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction for further guidance.
But, Keyes added, the situation is far from there.
In the meantime, she urged families to stay informed by way of the district’s Web site, which has links to other informative sites including those of the Centers for Disease Control, www.flu.gov and the state health department.
– Lindsay Latimore
Since contact with those infected is the easiest way to transmit the virus, health officials are urging people to stay home from work if they are sick. Daniels said the county is leaning on employers to be more understanding of workers’ health situations.
While the county continues to form its plans for H1N1, local clinics are preparing for the season.
At the Virginia Mason Clinic on Winslow Way, more patients than usual are coming in with flu symptoms, said spokeswoman Alisha Mark. Unless they are in the high risk groups (pregnant women, children, people with chronic illnesses, the elderly) patients aren’t tested for H1N1.
If the number of flu patients continues to rise, the clinics have a plan. At Virginia Mason, Mark said, non-essential appointments, like having a benign mole removed or other dermatological services, will be bumped in favor of more pressing needs.
If the flu spreads to staff members, Mark said, Virginia Mason has the resources to move people around.
“If we start to see real pandemic levels throughout the clinic system, we’d look at centralizing staffing,” she said.
Bob Fortner, a retired physician who has worked with the city, fire district, police department and other entities to iron out plans to deal with the virus, said two emergency locations exist if the clinics become overwhelmed.
The two locations, which were originally set up for earthquakes, are located near the high school gymnasium and at the Bainbridge First Baptist Church on the corner of Madison Avenue and State Route 305. They would only be used in absolute worst-case situations.
“It would have to be a really, really high-attack rate, where there just wasn’t the ability to deal with people and their families in a routine clinic situation,” Fortner said.
Fortner said a good way to prevent an overwhelming number of cases at local clinics is to try to take care of the sick at home.
While the virus doesn’t appear to have infected many Bainbridge residents thus far, Washington as a whole has been hit hard. At the beginning of the month, more than 2,000 students at Washington State University reported symptoms of the virus. Reports concluded that the outbreak began Aug. 21 during fraternity and sorority rush.
During its peak in the first week of September, reports indicated that more than 100 students per day were calling the school nurses about the virus.
The outbreak may have led to Washington having the most cases in its college population.
According to the American College Health Association, Washington has by far the greatest number of cases. Data compiled by the organization indicates that 366 of every 10,000 students have been infected.
