Lee focus is on masks, gloves, good hygiene
Originally posted on February 17, 2006
http://gcirm.news-press.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_lx.ads/news.news-press.com/news/local_state/1712984501/300x250_1/OasDefault/002851/0000046232.jpg/63623466353138333433663632336430?_RM_EMPTY_ By Paige St. John, The News-Press Tallahassee Bureau & Michelle Start, mstart@news-press.com
TALLAHASSEE — A scary scenario emerged Thursday at a health summit here: The state likely will be battling a killer flu during a hurricane.
That means mixing infected and healthy people by the tens of thousands at hurricane shelters statewide. And thousands more may put themselves in harm's way rather than risk infection with a deadly virus.
"We don't have an answer yet," Lee County health director Dr. Judith Hartner said. "You have to balance the risks. The answer will depend on how bad the hurricane is, which direction it's heading and how virulent the flu strain is."
The pandemic flu meeting — which included Gov. Jeb Bush and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt — comes amid recent warnings by health officials that a killer flu is coming soon, but no one knows when.
The current threat is avian flu, which so far has killed 165 people since 1997, mostly in Asia. The virus is alarmingly similar to the Spanish flu, which swept the world in 1918 and killed some 500,000 U.S. residents, said Dr. Julie Gerberding, Centers for Disease Control director. "We're worried about the fatality rate of this one."
Leavitt said computer models predict a novel influenza virus — if it mutates to become easily passed from human to human — would reach the United States within 30 days from wherever in the world it evolved.
"We will do everything we can to help quench it at its source," Gerberding said, referring to federal plans to pour resources into whatever region of the world the virus starts. But realistically, that will only delay its arrival. "The strategy to slow down and prevent the spread is to buy time" for eventual vaccine development, she said.
Among the strategies discussed:
• Do more emergency drills so local officials are ready. "We don't have a date yet for Lee County, but I'm thinking it will probably be before hurricane season beats us too much," Hartner said.
• Try to make regular flu shots — which could help people fight another strain — more easily available.
Chris Beddoes, executive director for Lee County American Red Cross, said he isn't sure how local officials will handle dealing with the pandemic flu while also trying to provide shelters during hurricanes.
"We can separate different areas of our shelter," he said. "We can also have gloves and masks available for anyone who wants one. If we have to, we can make our shelters smaller and open more."
He said officials are planning to focus on teaching people about good hygiene over the next few months. He is also ordering things such as masks and gloves.
Leavitt warned that under global attack, the federal government will have few resources to spare, and states, counties and communities, as well as families as businesses, will largely be on their own.
"Any community that fails to prepare with the premise that the federal government will rescue them will be tragically wrong," Leavitt said.
Federal officials Thursday repeatedly referred to projections that an outbreak would sideline 40 percent of Americans, shutting down workplaces and schools and hobbling the economy.
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Alfonso Martinez-Fonts said deliveries of food, gasoline and even chlorine to treat public water supplies are uncertain.
In a pandemic, the federal government will control distribution of vaccines, including setting priority lists for who gets it first.
Florida has told Swiss producer Roche it would spend $33.8 million for Tamiflu, enough to treat 1.8 million residents, and rely on the federal government to provide doses to treat an additional 2.8 million Floridians.
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