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**HenryN** · June 6, 2009, 11:30 AM

Re: Manitoba: (Severe) Flu-like outbreak keeps hundreds of students away from Dauphin schools

Letter to parents

https://www.edline.net/files/5c00a37a40df15653745a49013852ec4/June_3_MMS_Illness_Letter.pdf

**cartski** · June 8, 2009, 09:42 AM

Re: Manitoba: (Severe) Flu-like outbreak keeps hundreds of students away from Dauphin schools

Developing new vaccines important, Winnipeg conference told
By The Canadian Press

Last Updated: 7th June 2009, 8:06pm
Email Story Print Size A A A Report Typo Share with:
Facebook Digg Del.icio.us Google Stumble Upon Newsvine Reddit Technorati Feed Me Yahoo Simpy Squidoo Spurl Blogmarks Netvouz Scuttle Sitejot + What are these? WINNIPEG ? The emergence of swine flu on a remote northern Manitoba reserve is highlighting the importance of developing new vaccines, a health conference in Winnipeg was told Sunday.

So far there have been four confirmed cases of H1N1 virus within Manitoba?s Burntwood health district, which includes the St. Theresa Point First Nation.

Dozens more people have reported being sick with symptoms of the flu.

The Canadian Public Health Association?s annual meeting was told Sunday an H1N1 vaccine should be available by the next flu season this fall.

However, while warning that people should be cautious of all communicable diseases, Mark Parrington, head of Discovery Canada, told CTV Winnipeg it?s important to separate fact from fear.

?We hear about it a lot and I think that creates a perception that maybe sometimes these things are bigger than they are,? said Parrington.

?We need to step back and take a look at the numbers.?

Parrington said the number of swine flu cases in Canada are relatively low compared to other flu strains.

There have been more than 2,000 confirmed cases in nine provinces and three territories and three related deaths.

However, Terry Duguid of the International Centre for Infectious Diseases warned those numbers could go up if the proper steps aren?t taken.

?Marginalized populations, people in remote communities, people who don?t have access to health-care services are more at risk,? he said.

A panel of experts spoke about new and emerging vaccines set to hit the market by 2013 which will prevent diseases such as shingles and whooping cough.

?I think there is need for more government support for these very effective public health measures,? said Duguid.

?Also, there?s the need for government, industry and the public to work more closely together.?

Others are the conference said it?s taken a long time just to get to this point.

?The whole process to get a vaccine from concept to being approved is anywhere from 10 to 15 years,? said Dr. Greg Hammond of Manitoba Health.

The hardest part is getting funding.

?We have to justify it against any other programming.?

On Friday, Ottawa announced funding for pandemic flu research is being boosted by $10.8 million over three years in a bid to help further protect Canadians from the swine flu.

The initiative will connect public and private sector researchers and help answer questions like what makes an effective vaccine, said federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq.

Winnipeg Sun

http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/manitoba/2009/06/07/9708081.html

**Shiloh** · June 8, 2009, 09:56 AM

Re: Manitoba: (Severe) Flu-like outbreak keeps hundreds of students away from Dauphin schools

Source: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/bre...-47195182.html

Manitoba lacks flu protocol: doc
Key is to decide whether schools must close, he says
By: Nick Martin

8/06/2009 1:00 AM

Manitoba needs to figure out before the fall flu season whether kids should be kept home or schools closed, since children spread flu faster and for longer than anyone else, provincial infectious disease expert Dr. Greg Hammond said Sunday.

When the H1N1 virus struck Mexico, "They closed a number of public facilities. It's something that needs to be thought about for the fall," he said. "We know children are the first wave in a community, and they help spread it around.

"They shed more virus, and for a longer period of time, than do adults," Hammond said. With incubation occurring over one to three days, "If one child infects two or three other children, what you see very rapidly is a lot of children getting sick."

Those children will spread the flu to their parents and other adults, said Hammond, a former senior official in Manitoba Health who now serves as an infectious disease consultant to Health Sciences Centre and the Grace Hospital.

He would not say whether Mountain View School Division should be closing a Dauphin middle school with high absenteeism last week and some students with flu symptoms. However, he said Manitoba needs to think about possible policies before the fall flu season.

Hammond was on a panel Sunday on vaccine development at the opening of Winnipeg's four-day Canadian Public Health Association conference.

He said schools and parents should be alerted whenever absenteeism exceeds 10 per cent.

Sick kids should be kept home, although that is difficult for working parents, he said, and schools must emphasize handwashing and techniques for sneezing and coughing without spreading germs.

The H1N1 flu could force the federal and provincial governments to find a way to work together to deal with serious disease outbreaks, said Hammond, chairman of the Manitoba secretariat dedicated to preventing human papillomavirus infections, which can lead to cervical cancer.

"The H1N1 situation will challenge us to do things in a much more streamlined way," Hammond said.

"In Canada, we don't have a single immunization process -- we have 14" for the provinces, territories, and First Nations, he said. "Our provincial boundaries are very arbitrary -- they don't stop infectious diseases."

British studies have shown that closing airports does not control the spread of flu, but closing schools has a significant impact, said Dr. Mark Parrington, head of discovery for the sanofi Pasteur pharmaceutical company.

Dr. Robert Van Exan, founding chairman of the BIOTECanada vaccine industry committee, told the conference that Canada's review process is far more complicated than most other industrialized countries, and that could delay developing an H1N1 vaccine here.

Hammond agreed, but predicted that the reaction to the H1N1 outbreak could break down barriers.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we learn through H1N1 that we have to find ways to work together. This will test us all," he said.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca

H1N1 by the numbers
40

Confirmed H1N1 flu cases in Manitoba

Four

Confirmed H1N1 cases from St. Theresa Point

20+

People from St. Theresa Point hospitalized in Winnipeg with influenza

2,115

Confirmed H1N1 cases across Canada

Three

H1N1 deaths across Canada (two in Ontario, one in Alberta)

Announcement

Manitoba: (Severe) Flu-like outbreak keeps hundreds of students away from Dauphin schools

Manitoba: (Severe) Flu-like outbreak keeps hundreds of students away from Dauphin schools

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