Dr. Bonnie Henry from the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control said that expecting all health care workers to be completely protected from infectious diseases is unreasonable. Her comment was in response to a question about disease prevention posed by a member of the audience at the Institute of Medicine where a workshop on the H1N1 virus took place. Henry said that it was important that health care workers are educated on the risks of their workplace in terms of infectious diseases. (0:27)

 

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By Annie Berman

In a panel discussion held at the Institute of Medicine on Thursday, doctors and researchers suggested that disposable respirators, hand hygiene stations, and protective eye wear be used by health care workers to prevent the spread of the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu.

Leonard Mermel, Medical Director at the Department of Epidemiology and Infection Control at Rhode Island Hospital, described cough etiquette stations that his hospital is using to prevent the spread of infection. These stations have hand sanitizer dispensers, face masks, and instructions for cough etiquette, and are located at every entrance to the hospital building.

“[We need] to do a better job of educating our health care workers as well as the patients and families and why it’s important for them to for example, don a mask, how to do it, why it’s important for them to do hand hygiene. This can’t be overemphasized,” said Mermel.

As for other ways to combat the spread of infection, Mermel suggested that health care workers across the country undergo daily screening for fever and other respiratory symptoms before they begin their shifts. He also suggested that hospitals be properly ventilated and that building temperatures remain at 68 degrees and relative indoor humidity be raised to 50%.

The first outbreak of swine flu was reported in Mexico this past spring and cases of the virus have been reported in the United States and abroad since. For more information on the H1N1 virus visit www.cdc.gov/H1N1.

One of the biggest challenges in the fight against the ongoing H1N1 virus is going to be effectively communicating crucial information about the virus in a timely manner, says Anne Schuchat, U.S. Assistant Surgeon General. “Our ability to effectively communicate to people what they need to know… is critical to things not being even worse than they would be otherwise,” she adds. (0:46)

 

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“I’m fairly certain we will have a vaccine, but will the virus change to the point of our vaccine not being as protective as we would like it to be?” asks Anthony Fauci, Director at the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. Although the virus has not changed since early April, “every time you talk about influenza, you must prepare for the unpredictable,” he says. (0:35)

 

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We need to be prepared for a likely return of the H1N1 virus in the fall, says Anthony Fauci, Director at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. As environmental factors such as such as cooler temperatures and a drier climate change in the fall, “there is clearly the possibility, if not the likelihood, that we will see, to a greater or lesser degree, a return of this.” (0:40)

 

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