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Ingham, MSU respond to emergency declaration
By David Barker (Last updated: 11 hours ago)
President Barack Obama declaring the H1N1 virus a national emergency hasn?t sent local hospitals and agencies scrambling, but officials are concerned about the amount of H1N1 vaccine available in Ingham County.
According to flu.gov, the declaration gives the U.S Department of Health and Human Services the ability to waive certain regulatory requirements that might interfere with ?certain rapid triage or sorting activities and prevent the establishment of off-site, alternate care facilities that could off-load emergency department demand.?
But representatives for area service providers, such as Lansing?s Sparrow Hospital, said the declaration has little immediate effect on how patients displaying flu-like symptoms are handled.
?It?s not changing how we?re treating patients,? Sparrow spokesman John Berg said.
?(The declaration) would allow us the ability to activate emergency plans or crisis plans. We have plans to respond to different types of emergencies and sometimes they call for opening other locations that are not at our hospital. It would allow us the ability to do that.?
Berg said any such response by Sparrow would be part of a larger action by Ingham County.
The number of students with flu-like symptoms has been increasing, MSU University Physician Beth Alexander said, but she could not give specific
numbers about how many cases have been reported at MSU.
Statistics from the Michigan Department of Community Health show 350 cases of flu-like illness were reported between Oct. 11 and 17 in Ingham County.
Cases of flu-like symptoms statewide have increased to 13,203 this year from 8,767 in 2008. Individual cases of H1N1 are not recorded, said Christopher Cox, a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Although the emergency declaration?s main goal is quick and effective treatment of the H1N1 virus, prevention of infection currently is a larger concern for Ingham County, said Marcus Cheathum, spokesman for the Ingham County Health Department.
?From our point of view, the main problem is getting people to take the vaccine,? Cheathum said. ?We think we want to win on the prevention side. But if vaccines are arriving late, that?s a problem.?
Alexander said the small amount of vaccine available to the public has made it difficult to protect individuals against the flu.
Alexander said MSU ordered about 40,000 doses of vaccine, but only 1,400 had been delivered as of yesterday ? far fewer than officials had expected.
?They told us we?d be getting large amounts by mid-to-late October, and it became clear a week or 10 days ago we weren?t going to get a lot very soon,? Alexander said.
Students can check the availability of the H1N1 vaccine by visiting MSU?s Web site, she said.
But despite the emergency declaration and county officials? concerns about vaccine availability, some students said they remain unconcerned.
?I?m not concerned about the flu virus at all,? said kinesiology sophomore
Erin Soreide, who has no plans to be vaccinated.
?I think it?s just a big hype. I hear about random people on campus, but no one specific.?
By David Barker (Last updated: 11 hours ago)
President Barack Obama declaring the H1N1 virus a national emergency hasn?t sent local hospitals and agencies scrambling, but officials are concerned about the amount of H1N1 vaccine available in Ingham County.
According to flu.gov, the declaration gives the U.S Department of Health and Human Services the ability to waive certain regulatory requirements that might interfere with ?certain rapid triage or sorting activities and prevent the establishment of off-site, alternate care facilities that could off-load emergency department demand.?
But representatives for area service providers, such as Lansing?s Sparrow Hospital, said the declaration has little immediate effect on how patients displaying flu-like symptoms are handled.
?It?s not changing how we?re treating patients,? Sparrow spokesman John Berg said.
?(The declaration) would allow us the ability to activate emergency plans or crisis plans. We have plans to respond to different types of emergencies and sometimes they call for opening other locations that are not at our hospital. It would allow us the ability to do that.?
Berg said any such response by Sparrow would be part of a larger action by Ingham County.
The number of students with flu-like symptoms has been increasing, MSU University Physician Beth Alexander said, but she could not give specific
numbers about how many cases have been reported at MSU.
Statistics from the Michigan Department of Community Health show 350 cases of flu-like illness were reported between Oct. 11 and 17 in Ingham County.
Cases of flu-like symptoms statewide have increased to 13,203 this year from 8,767 in 2008. Individual cases of H1N1 are not recorded, said Christopher Cox, a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Although the emergency declaration?s main goal is quick and effective treatment of the H1N1 virus, prevention of infection currently is a larger concern for Ingham County, said Marcus Cheathum, spokesman for the Ingham County Health Department.
?From our point of view, the main problem is getting people to take the vaccine,? Cheathum said. ?We think we want to win on the prevention side. But if vaccines are arriving late, that?s a problem.?
Alexander said the small amount of vaccine available to the public has made it difficult to protect individuals against the flu.
Alexander said MSU ordered about 40,000 doses of vaccine, but only 1,400 had been delivered as of yesterday ? far fewer than officials had expected.
?They told us we?d be getting large amounts by mid-to-late October, and it became clear a week or 10 days ago we weren?t going to get a lot very soon,? Alexander said.
Students can check the availability of the H1N1 vaccine by visiting MSU?s Web site, she said.
But despite the emergency declaration and county officials? concerns about vaccine availability, some students said they remain unconcerned.
?I?m not concerned about the flu virus at all,? said kinesiology sophomore
Erin Soreide, who has no plans to be vaccinated.
?I think it?s just a big hype. I hear about random people on campus, but no one specific.?
