RNS: H1N1 Flu Advice, October 2009
TIME: 4:06
URL: http://www2.med.umich.edu/prmc/media/newsroom/details.cfm?ID=1327
U-M Health Minute: Today’s top health issues and medical research
Seasonal distress: Who’s most at-risk for complications from the H1N1 virus and should you wear a mask this winter?
University of Michigan Health System expert offers advice for managing what’s predicted to be a rough flu season
Suggested lead: The H1N1 virus will soon be all around us, adding an additional cause for concern this flu season. But what groups are considered most at-risk for complications from H1N1 virus and who should be vaccinated. Here is Andi McDonnell with more.
The vaccine to protect against H1N1, or swine flu, is trickling into doctors’ offices and health clinics, but just who should get it and what will the flu season be like?
Dr. Sandro Cinti, (M.D.), an infectious disease expert at the University of Michigan Health System and VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System predicts . . .
“This flu season we think is going to be lengthened because of the H1N1 virus. So typically, the seasonal flu starts around October and then peeks, in Michigan here, it peaks in around January, February; that’s what we expect every year. This flu season, H1N1 has started earlier and, we think, will continue through our regular flu season. So it will be a little bit longer than we’re used to.”
But while seasonal flu contributes to 30,000 to 40,000 deaths a year, H1N1 could lead to mortality numbers as high as 50,000 to 90,000.
It creates new questions about how to protect against a potentially deadly virus, especially for those who do not fit into the recommended – mostly young – age groups for vaccination.
Cinti answers key questions:
Who is most susceptible to the H1N1 virus?
“The people whom we are most concerned about are children that are under the age of 2, are people who have underlying risk factors, which include people with immune compromised conditions like HIV, transplant patients, also people with chronic conditions, kidney conditions, people who are on renal dialysis, people who have asthma, people who have heart disease, those people will be at higher risk. We have a particular concern, and there has been a lot in the news about this, in protecting pregnant women because they seem to have a much higher risk if they get infected.”
What are symptoms of H1N1?
“The symptoms for H1N1 are almost exactly the same as seasonal flu. It’s fevers, chills, muscle aches, some people get diarrhea and nausea, which can also happen with seasonal flu. So it’s very difficult for a person to know do they have H1N1, do they have seasonal flu or do they have something else. And by that same token, it’s difficult for clinicians and physicians to know the same thing.”
When should I get medical attention?
“People who should receive medical attention include people at high risk, so that’s pregnant women, that includes people with immuno-compromising conditions such as transplant, HIV, that includes people with chronic conditions such as people with renal problems, people with bad lung conditions, heart conditions, those people should call their physicians. Others who are healthy should not seek medical help unless the following conditions occur, which would be shortness of breath, unable to keep down fluids to hydrate or unable to take care of themselves at home. In that situation, yes those people should seek help.”
What’s the risk for infection this season?
“The vaccine for H1N1 won’t be available until mid-October so we’re likely to see a lot more people getting infected. So typically, in seasonal flu you have a vaccine, people get infected. The hit rate or the rate of infection is about 5 to 15- percent and we’re expecting anywhere from 30 to 40-percent of the population could get infected with H1N1.”
What are ways to protect against H1N1?
“The way this disease is passed requires pretty close contact with somebody who’s sick and so again, avoiding being within 3 to 6 feet of somebody who’s sick, washing your hands, not touching your- one thing that people do is they touch something and then they touch their face, really avoiding that kind of behavior. Masks themselves, for somebody who’s not sick, probably doesn’t work outside the healthcare setting.”
Andi McDonnell, U-M Health System News
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