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N.J. Unveils Campaign About Flu Pandemic
By LINDA A. JOHNSON , 10.03.2006, 08:00 PM
Average citizens need to prepare for the influenza pandemic that public health officials have been warning is overdue, New Jersey's top health officials said Tuesday in announcing a public awareness campaign.
The multimedia campaign, dubbed "Get Flu Ready, New Jersey," is aimed at encouraging residents, schools and businesses to make preparations for a possible pandemic, or global epidemic, to limit panic and infections if one occurs.
The campaign urges people to stockpile needed supplies such as food and bottled water, practice good hygiene to prevent getting or spreading the flu, and learn all they can about the impact of a pandemic before it hits.
In the public service ads, New Jersey Health and Senior Services Commissioner Dr. Fred Jacobs tells viewers the potential worldwide flu epidemic could endanger New Jersey families and that healthy habits such as washing hands, covering noses when sneezing and staying home when sick can protect them.
At a news conference, Jacobs and Dr. Eddy Bresnitz, the state epidemiologist, stressed staying informed, keeping a distance from ill people and following those simple hygiene rules.
"It's basic, basic, what your mother taught you," Bresnitz said.
Public health officials are worried about both the possibility of the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain in Asia mutating and spreading among people, and a severe strain of human influenza circulating around the world. The biggest recent influenza pandemic, in 1918 and 1919, killed more than 675,000 Americans and more than 50 million people worldwide, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"It could happen any time," Jacobs said. "We're not going to be able to take care of everybody, but we're going to do the best we can to provide public information" and assistance.
In New Jersey, Bresnitz said he estimates about one-quarter of the state's 8.5 million residents would become sick over weeks or months.
That would strain medical and government resources and possibly lead to quarantines, given that the virus is easily spread through sneezing, shaking hands and touching surfaces with the virus on them. For instance, the state has about 25,000 hospital beds, of which only 3,200 are in intensive care units.
Bresnitz said a working group of 114 officials from government and other organizations is updating what will be the state's fourth flu pandemic plan since 1999. It covers everything from beefed-up surveillance for infections and command-and-control functions to distribution of antiviral medicines and vaccines and providing mental health care. The working group is coordinating with hospitals, 115 local health departments, the state homeland security office and others.
Should an epidemic occur, Jacobs as the health commissioner would have broad powers under the state's year-old Emergency Health Powers Act to take over medical facilities, move staff and patients around among them and otherwise allocate needed resources.
Bresnitz said the health department still is prioritizing who will be the first to get antiviral medicine, both for treating the sick and preventing infection in their close contacts, but that likely will include health workers, police and firefighters.
The state already has 18,500 treatment courses of the antiviral drug Tamiflu stockpiled and has ordered about 950,000 more courses of Tamiflu and a second drug, worth about $13 million. Those medicines won't be available until at least next spring, but New Jersey would be entitled to more than 1 million additional treatment courses from the federal stockpile, Bresnitz said, adding many hospitals, doctors' offices and businesses have their own stores of the drugs.
N.J. Unveils Campaign About Flu Pandemic
By LINDA A. JOHNSON , 10.03.2006, 08:00 PM
Average citizens need to prepare for the influenza pandemic that public health officials have been warning is overdue, New Jersey's top health officials said Tuesday in announcing a public awareness campaign.
The multimedia campaign, dubbed "Get Flu Ready, New Jersey," is aimed at encouraging residents, schools and businesses to make preparations for a possible pandemic, or global epidemic, to limit panic and infections if one occurs.
The campaign urges people to stockpile needed supplies such as food and bottled water, practice good hygiene to prevent getting or spreading the flu, and learn all they can about the impact of a pandemic before it hits.
In the public service ads, New Jersey Health and Senior Services Commissioner Dr. Fred Jacobs tells viewers the potential worldwide flu epidemic could endanger New Jersey families and that healthy habits such as washing hands, covering noses when sneezing and staying home when sick can protect them.
At a news conference, Jacobs and Dr. Eddy Bresnitz, the state epidemiologist, stressed staying informed, keeping a distance from ill people and following those simple hygiene rules.
"It's basic, basic, what your mother taught you," Bresnitz said.
Public health officials are worried about both the possibility of the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain in Asia mutating and spreading among people, and a severe strain of human influenza circulating around the world. The biggest recent influenza pandemic, in 1918 and 1919, killed more than 675,000 Americans and more than 50 million people worldwide, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"It could happen any time," Jacobs said. "We're not going to be able to take care of everybody, but we're going to do the best we can to provide public information" and assistance.
In New Jersey, Bresnitz said he estimates about one-quarter of the state's 8.5 million residents would become sick over weeks or months.
That would strain medical and government resources and possibly lead to quarantines, given that the virus is easily spread through sneezing, shaking hands and touching surfaces with the virus on them. For instance, the state has about 25,000 hospital beds, of which only 3,200 are in intensive care units.
Bresnitz said a working group of 114 officials from government and other organizations is updating what will be the state's fourth flu pandemic plan since 1999. It covers everything from beefed-up surveillance for infections and command-and-control functions to distribution of antiviral medicines and vaccines and providing mental health care. The working group is coordinating with hospitals, 115 local health departments, the state homeland security office and others.
Should an epidemic occur, Jacobs as the health commissioner would have broad powers under the state's year-old Emergency Health Powers Act to take over medical facilities, move staff and patients around among them and otherwise allocate needed resources.
Bresnitz said the health department still is prioritizing who will be the first to get antiviral medicine, both for treating the sick and preventing infection in their close contacts, but that likely will include health workers, police and firefighters.
The state already has 18,500 treatment courses of the antiviral drug Tamiflu stockpiled and has ordered about 950,000 more courses of Tamiflu and a second drug, worth about $13 million. Those medicines won't be available until at least next spring, but New Jersey would be entitled to more than 1 million additional treatment courses from the federal stockpile, Bresnitz said, adding many hospitals, doctors' offices and businesses have their own stores of the drugs.
