Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Iowa - Pandemic Preparedness

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Iowa - Pandemic Preparedness

    <table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td>Iowa Stocks Up for Flu Pandemic


    </td> <td>
    </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="3"> <table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="250"> <tbody><tr> <td width="110"></td> </tr> <tr> <td>
    </td> </tr> </tbody></table> DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Iowa is moving forward with preparations for a possible flu pandemic.

    The state's executive council has approved the health department's request for four-point-eight million dollars to buy antiviral drugs. That's enough to treat about 309-thousand Iowans who contract the flu. Combined with a federal stockpile, Iowa will have enough to medicine to cover about 25 percent of the state's population.

    Health department spokeswoman Nicole Peckumn says it's the state's first stockpile of drugs specifically for a pandemic response.

    The drugs, Tamiflu, a pill, and Relenza, an inhaler, would go to the people most at risk of illness and death during a flu pandemic.

    Peckumn says the order will be placed within 30 days and received in six to nine months.

    ? 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
    Updated: August 15, 2006, 10:12 am
    </td></tr></tbody></table>
    "We are in this breathing space before it happens. We do not know how long that breathing space is going to be. But, if we are not all organizing ourselves to get ready and to take action to prepare for a pandemic, then we are squandering an opportunity for our human security"- Dr. David Nabarro

  • #2
    Iowa - Pandemic Preparedness

    TEAM EFFORT PREPARES FOR A FLU PANDEMIC
    By Kristin Buehner (The Globe Gazette)
    September 2, 2006

    Mason City ? A pandemic flu preparedness campaign in which local grocery stores will play a key role was unveiled Friday by Cerro Gordo County health department officials.

    Seven grocery stores in Mason City, Clear Lake and Rockwell will participate, said Michele Appelgate, public information officer for the Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health.

    The stores are Mason City Hy-Vee Stores, Fareway Stores in Mason City and Clear Lake, Wal-Mart in Mason City, Econofoods in Clear Lake and Dugan?s Supermarket in Rockwell.

    It is the first time the health department has enlisted the help of grocers to disseminate information it believes is vital regarding preparing for a flu pandemic it says will occur.

    Information will be handed out in the checkout lanes, together with the customers? receipts.

    ?It?s difficult to predict when the next influenza pandemic will occur,? Appelgate said.

    But the World Health Organization has said the world is on the brink of one, said Karen Crimmings, disease prevention and investigation service manager at the health department. ?It?s not if this going to happen. It?s when and how severe.?

    Beginning Friday, Sept. 8, and continuing for four weeks, grocery store clerks will hand out educational flyers about flu preparedness. New flyers, presenting additional information, will be given out each week. The last flyer will be distributed the week of Friday, Sept. 29.

    Each flyer will be a different color.

    ?We want people to take them seriously and we want people to save those documents,? Appelgate said.

    The flyers will contain information such as the importance of planning, checklists for emergency preparedness kits, emergency contact forms and emergency health information forms.

    ?Everybody in the community is responsible for his or her own health care,? Crimmings said. ?We hope they will follow the guidelines set out by public health.?

    Flu observers say the current H5N1 avian flu strain is similar to the strain that caused the severe pandemic of 1918 that killed between 50 million and 100 million people worldwide.

    ?Thirty percent of the population would be affected,? said Crimmings.

    A pandemic flu strain is a virus that causes serious illness for which no one has immunity. The flu is easily transmittable.

    The H5N1 strain has shown that it is capable of infecting human beings, with 241 human cases reported so far.

    One hundred forty-one deaths have been reported, none of which were in the United States, Crimmings said.

    Source: www.globegazette.com/articles/2006/09/02/local/doc44f8fef1adfd5855509462.txt

    Comment

    Working...
    X