Before the Vaccine Arrives, It's Up to Citizens to Slow Swine Flu

[indigo girl]

Yes, they do mean it.

Here is the plan that HHS Secretary Sebelius did not flesh out for us the other day in her press conference. Basically, HHS and CDC wants the public to use some mitigation strategies to slow the spread of the virus. That is smart, and it's been the plan for years. The most effective mitigation strategy of all of course, would have been temporary school closure until school age kids were vaccinated. Vaccinating the kids and their parents before other groups would do plenty to slow the virus down. The kids are the most efficient flu spreaders around, and their parents are the bridge to the rest of the community. But, it is not going to happen this way. There won't be school closure unless they are forced to do so by the absence of sick kids and teachers. And, as for the vaccine, the high risk groups don't include school age kids unless they already have a health problem.

What they are saying in this article is not all bad. They are making a good effort to educate the public on avoiding infection. I have to say though that when I read the bit about the face masks, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry...

Was there not a 2 day meeting of the IOM last week to decide on a recommendation to the CDC for which mask HCW would use for protection against swine flu? And, didn't all the ID people say the surgical mask was good enough for HCW to use? Never mind that this did not agree with Dr Raina McIntyre's study comparing the efficacy of the surgical mask agains the N95 respirators which found that the N95 were the more efficacious. Her other study was on the use of the surgical masks in the home for family members taking care of someone with an ILI. The mask did help in the home setting though it was nowhere near comparable to the efficacy of the N95 in the hospital setting. So why are they now telling the public that they don't know if the masks work or not? Probably because if everyone out there buys them, the store shelves will be empty...

Avoid close contact with sick people. Close contact means getting within 6 feet of a sick person. If you must care for someone who is ill, minimize close contact.

It's not known whether face masks protect against infection. If you use one, don't slack off on hand washing or avoiding close contact with sick people. Use the face mask properly and throw it away after use.

There's more:

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/news/20090826/stopping-swine-flu-up-to-you

[oramar]

Steven C. Redd said, " I think we're going to have an interesting fall". He gets first place in the 2009 understatement contest as far as I am concerned.

[Kringe38]

One of our NS instructors said that schoolchildren will be first before HCW. ???

[nerdtonurse?, BSN, RN]

In an epidemic, I'm wearing a N95 or I'm staying home. My health, my safety, MY choice.

[indigo girl]

One of our NS instructors said that schoolchildren will be first before HCW. ???

I thought I was seeing things KAR38 because you posted this in two different threads! I could have sworn that I already answered it. As a matter of fact, I did! So here I go again:

Kids are a target group but they are not a priority group. There is a difference, I am told. Because there is not enough vaccine, the priority groups will be vaxed first.

http://afludiary.blogspot.com/2009/0...pare-shot.html

Target Groups

On July 29th at the ACIP meeting (see The ACIP Committee Recommendations) we learned of plans to target roughly 159 million `higher risk' Americans with a vaccination program this fall, and the hopes that all Americans who want a shot will be offered one in the months that follow.

These target groups assumed that adequate quantities of vaccine would be available in October, and are made up of:

Pregnant women (4 Million)

Household contacts and caregivers of children under 6 mos (who cannot receive a vaccination themselves) (5 Million)

Health Care Workers & Medical Service Personnel (14 million)

Children and adolescents aged 6mos -24yrs (102 Million)

Persons aged 25-64 years of age with certain Medical Conditions (34 million)

Priority Groups

While it was it was hoped that it would not be needed, as a fallback position - in the event of a major shortfall of vaccine - ACIP identified a smaller `subgroup' who could receive prioritization for the vaccine.

This priority group consists of roughly 42 million people.

Pregnant women (4 million)

Household contacts of Infants

Health Care Workers With Direct Patient Contact (9 Million)

Children aged 6mos - 4 yrs (18 million)

Children under 19 with chronic medical conditions (6 Million)

No doubt there are now discussions ongoing about what to do about this expected vaccine shortfall.

Whether to concentrate on this smaller subgroup? Or to go ahead with the larger 159 million-person priority group as originally planned?

UPDATE: It appears, based on reporting from ABC News this morning, that the decision is leaning towards going with this 42 million person cohort.

[indigo girl]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/aug/18/us-cuts-doses-of-flu-vaccine/

U.S. health officials on Monday said they have slashed their estimate of how many swine flu vaccine doses will be available for the start of a mass vaccination campaign in the fall.

Citing delays in manufacturing and packaging the vaccines, the Department of Health and Human Services said only 45 million doses of the new H1N1 vaccine would be on hand in mid-October, instead of the 120 million previously forecast.

The revised delivery guidelines would push back a federal government estimate that all those requiring vaccinations be immunized by the first week of December.

"Our latest information from the manufacturers tells us that we now expect to have about 45 million doses by October 15 with approximately 20 million doses being delivered each week thereafter, up to the 195 million doses that we have purchased," Bill Hall, an HHS spokesman, said in e-mail.

(info courtesy of FlaMedic)