| Help prevent the spread of flu |
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Posted: Saturday, October 31, 2009 10:58 pm
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It’s time for a little common sense.
In its most recently released statement, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that influenza activity continued to increase in the United States. Among the CDC’s findings for the week of Oct. 18-24 are:
• Visits to doctors for flu-like illness have increased sharply and are higher than what is expected for this time of year.
• Total hospitalizations for laboratory-confirmed flu are climbing, with hospitalization rates the highest among children ages 0-4.
• The proportion of deaths attributed to pneumonia and flu has increased and is higher than expected for this time of year.
• Forty-eight states, including Minnesota, are reporting widespread influenza activity.
• Almost all of the influenza viruses identified so far are the H1N1 virus.
The conclusion that we ought to draw is that the H1N1 virus is real and is a threat to public health.
That being said, we note with gratitude that both the Owatonna Clinic and the Owatonna Hospital are being proactive in addressing the threat faced by the flu. The clinic has opened a special flu clinic that serves as a screening service to triage patients for flu-like symptoms, to identify needs and to refer patients for further evaluation if necessary. As for its part, the hospital, along with other hospitals across the state, will impose stricter limitations on visitors as a way to prevent the further spread of the flu. Among the new rules are a restriction that does not allow visitors under the age of 5 - an age group highly susceptible to the H1N1 virus, as the CDC numbers indicate - and a requirement that all visitors be screened.
In making the announcement about the new visiting restrictions, hospital officials noted one case in which an infant was exposed to the H1N1 virus when the child was taken to the hospital to visit someone with the flu. In another case, a teenager who was diagnosed one day with H1N1 visited a heart patient in the hospital that very same day, thus exposing the heart patient to greater risk.
We appreciate what both the clinic and the hospital are doing in our community to treat those with the flu and to do what they can to prevent the further spread of the virus. But we also think that the public needs to use a little common sense. Observe recommended procedures such as something so simple as washing your hands and using hand sanitizer. If you need to cough or sneeze, don’t do it in such a way that you spread germs. And, of course, don’t expose a child to someone with the virus. Or if you have the virus, don’t expose others to it.
We can get through this better if we all use a little common sense.
Owatonna People’s Press editorials are the opinion of the Press editorial board. Other editorials, columns, letters and cartoons appearing on this page are the opinions of the authors and artists and not necessarily the People’s Press.
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