Utah - Wellsville Buys Tamiflu for Key City Employees for possible Pandemic Flu

[sharon sanders]

Wellsville ready in event of flu pandemic with $3.3K plan

<!--subtitle--><!--byline-->The Salt Lake Tribune
<!--date-->Article Last Updated: 03/12/2008 01:58:46 AM MDT

<script language="JavaScript"> var requestedWidth = 0; </script>
<script language="JavaScript"> if(requestedWidth > 0){ document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup').style.width = requestedWidth + "px"; document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup').style.margin = "0px 0px 10px 10px"; } </script>WELLSVILLE - This northern Utah city is taking steps to fight a flu pandemic.

Just in case. The Wellsville City Council voted to buy 12-week courses of the antiviral medication oseltamivir - also known as Tamiflu - for 20 key employees.

If a pandemic strikes, Wellsville's mayor, city manager, one office secretary and two public-works employees will receive the medication, with the remaining 15 courses going to firefighters and other first responders.

Cost to the city: $3,300.

"There's no community that struggles more to pay their bills than Wellsville," City Manager Don Hartle said, "but we're doing this for the community." Wellsville, population 2,700, is just south of Logan. - Arrin Newton Brunson

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_8542230

 

[scottmcpherson]

Re: Utah - Wellsville Buys Tamiflu for Key City Employees for possible Pandemic Flu

I'd like to know how they got a rate around $14 per course. That is about what states are paying. Sounds like they are buying under the Federal plan, which of contractural necessity would need to be funneled through the Utah department of health.

I hope their apparently small police force also gets the Tamiflu. They could spend a bit more and buy enough Pronenecid to cover those people and effectively double that supply. Or double the people who would need it.

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: Utah - Wellsville Buys Tamiflu for Key City Employees for possible Pandemic Flu

There are issues with ordering and dispensing drugs to employees. One big issue is the distribution to the employee. What if his child gets sick first? He/she will want to obtain their allocation and give it to their child. Will the employer give this vital drug to the employee's child instead of the employee?

 

[Oracle]

Re: Utah - Wellsville Buys Tamiflu for Key City Employees for possible Pandemic Flu

Why is this mickey mouse article considered newsworthy in the first place??

Like what, a thousand other municipalities aren't doing the same thing with emergency public moneys intended for this specific purpose??

Interesting redundancy, mayor and city manager. Get rid of one of them, and you have more than enough coin to treat fire, police, ambulance and dispatch, plus key municipal works.

Wellsville population: 2,728

*squint*

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: Utah - Wellsville Buys Tamiflu for Key City Employees for possible Pandemic Flu

We are concerned with all life here. Even small cities.

 

[janetney]

Re: Utah - Wellsville Buys Tamiflu for Key City Employees for possible Pandemic Flu

especially small cities...thanks Florida...couldn't have said it better myself...

 

[Laidback Al]

Re: Utah - Wellsville Buys Tamiflu for Key City Employees for possible Pandemic Flu

There are many threads here at FT and elsewhere about breakdowns in infrastructure and JIT delivery systems in the event of a severe pandemic. There will be problems of treating, supplying, and protecting people in large urban settings. There is a general consensus among seasoned flu forum members that in the event of a severe pandemic, ones best chance of survival will be in a small local community surrounded by family, friends, and neighbors that have adequately prepared to weather a pandemic storm.

Indeed, Wellsville and thousands of other small communities around the world, properly prepared, may help civilization return to some form of normalcy after a world-wide devastating pandemic.

Every community needs to prepare, no matter how big or how small it is.

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: Utah - Wellsville Buys Tamiflu for Key City Employees for possible Pandemic Flu

My village in Quebec has only 1,200 people and it is one of the most delightful places I have ever been.

The people are warm and caring toward each other - even to newcomers like me.

My family has a different language and culture but they have opened their hearts to us and accept us for who we are.

This is the kind of compassion and understanding that will cross all barriers in a society to help lessen morbidity and mortality.

 

[Oracle]

Buying the expensive hype behind Tamiflu

Buying the expensive hype behind Tamiflu

I, too, live in a small town, in a rural setting. That has little to do with this discussion.

Officials strutting their stuff over spending money on expensive antiviral medications that will likely have no effect in staving off infection - that is the problem here. I suggest that the money might have been better spent on a public education program, proactive outreach to the residents, so that they can prepare.

In a town this size, charity resources will be scant, as will County and State emergency response and medical support, during an widespread infectious disease emergency. On the other hand, it will be relatively easy to enforce NPI, as long as the town residents have a reasonable stockpile of food and a handful of OTC medicines to treat symptoms.

Surely, you have noticed Niman patiently explaining the acquisition of antiviral resistance polymorphisms in numerous influenza viral strains. It's a reasonable bet that when a pandemic hits our Golden Shores, it will be resistant to Tamiflu.

Population (year 2000): 2,728.
Estimated population in July 2006: 2,485

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Utah - Wellsville Buys Tamiflu for Key City Employees for possible Pandemic Flu

How do you know the town hasn't spent time and money educating their population?

 

[Laidback Al]

Re: Utah - Wellsville Buys Tamiflu for Key City Employees for possible Pandemic Flu

Criticiting government leaders because you think they made a bad choice by investing in antivirals is not fruitful. I think we can agree that this community should be applauded for the effort. At least they are taking a pandemic threat seriously and have taken some kind of action to protect themselves.

 

[Oracle]

Still not getting it, eh?

Still not getting it, eh?

Fact: long before Tamiflu appeared on the market, environmental isolates carried the gene polymorphism that confers drug resistance.

Fact: active recombination has been demonstrated for a variety of high frequency influenza strains that infect mammals.

Fact: drug-resistant polymorphisms (there are several, not one) that render Tamiflu ineffective are selected for and enhanced in environmental strains for reasons other than antiviral drug use in local human and animal populations.

Sally, I searched for any indicators of public outreach for public preparedness by the city. I didn't find anything. Emergency management is handled at the county level, by Cache Co sheriffs department. Nothing on their web page to indicate pandemic preparedness outreach. I downloaded their emergency guide (under Information/Education).

http://www.cachesheriff.com/index.htm

Zero in that document on infectious disease/pandemic readiness.

 

[janetney]

Re: Utah - Wellsville Buys Tamiflu for Key City Employees for possible Pandemic Flu

most of us who live in a small town (my little town has about 900 people) don't have the money for that...but, what we do have is a love of community, friendship, a willingness of shared resources and compassion...that being said, i'm going to protect my kids and grandkids at all costs but i'll do the right thing, even if it's really hard to do...

course, some of my neighbors are like family so i think we'll be fine...

 

[Giuseppe]

Re: Utah - Wellsville Buys Tamiflu for Key City Employees for possible Pandemic Flu

One may feel a sense of safety in living at small community (villages, hamlets, sparsely inhabitated). But a comprehensive analysis of the geographical area perhaps it is also needed. Ie: in the area are installed bio-chemichal facilities, oil refinery or storage tankers, continuus-cycle chemichal plants, NPP, and military installation? Is the community aware of the presence of these facilities? Are enough protected against possible cycle failure and chemichal contamination or fallout?
Small communities may be delightful but the neighboring installations deserve attention in the light of a mass-casualties events, with disruption of supplies and workforce.
An example from Italy: near a small town not far from Garda Lake (N Italy) there is a military base with tens of N-warheads..., and tourists admire the sun and the beatiful of countryside...

 

[janetney]

Re: Utah - Wellsville Buys Tamiflu for Key City Employees for possible Pandemic Flu

actually, i live in the same place that Jim Jones (People's Temple fame) lived cuz he found out that this little valley surrounded by hills is one of the safest places on earth to live in the event of a nuclear war...

we're cut off by hills, mountains and large lakes and an ocean on all sides...

and, there are gardens, vineyards and wild life in abundance..

so, i speak of small communities with love and appreciation...i know how blessed i am..

 

[Oracle]

Re: Utah - Wellsville Buys Tamiflu for Key City Employees for possible Pandemic Flu

IronOreHopper: I found listed industry - aggregate (rock crushing for construction), mining facilities, agriculture in the Cache Valley in Utah.

Agriculture includes chicken hatchling and turkey farms, as well as dairy cattle operations and vegetable processing plants. Oh, and bee-keeping.

Other types of biosecurity hazards:

Utah has already had problems with Newcastle virus outbreaks in turkey farms (mostly further south), dating back to the '70s; the disease is now endemic in marshy areas in central Utah that attract millions of migrating birds each year. This suggests that poultry in the area might be prone to AI infection as well.

Hint: recent outbreaks of bird cholera in the Great Salt Lake area to the south of Cache Valley, reported in late 2007, didn't occur at random.

The Cache County fire department has jurisdiction over chemical hazards in the Wellsville area; this chemical emergency response group would be linked by database to State and Federal agencies that regulate and monitor hazardous wastes and processes.

~~~~~

The State of Utah has a Pandemic Preparedness Plan.

http://www.pandemicflu.utah.gov

A pandemic public health primer, circa 2006, clearly states the need for local community and county participation in pandemic awareness/planning.

http://www.usoe.k12.ut.us/ADMIN/utahpandemicinfo/pand_influ_school_super_120406.ppt.

 

[Giuseppe]

Re: Utah - Wellsville Buys Tamiflu for Key City Employees for possible Pandemic Flu

Many thanks to Oracle. I think a similar research work should be expanded as possible here and in other part of blogosphere and indipendent media. It is important to know the bio-chemichal hazards present in our territories as part of preparedness activities for mass-cusualties events such as pandemic influenza.
The point is: are these facilities enough protected from power failure, workforce shortage, supply failure and perhaps civil unrests?
A chemichal leakage could wipe out a community if no promptly contained (I remember the 'Seveso dioxin disaster' in Italy in the '70). Recently, a gas leakage from heavy-water installation in Pakistan left two deaths and more intoxicated, as reported by Xinhua and CBS.

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: Utah - Wellsville Buys Tamiflu for Key City Employees for possible Pandemic Flu

[SIZE=+1]Deadline passes for Tamiflu orders[/SIZE]
By Charles GeraciThe deadline to turn in flu vaccine orders to the Bear River Health Department has passed, and the agency will be sending them in to the state shortly.
Six entities in Cache County ? including three cities and three public health/safety agencies ? are purchasing Tamiflu pills to safeguard against a flu pandemic, should one occur in the next seven years.
The Health Department had previously sent letters to municipalities in Cache, Box Elder and Rich counties ? as well as local hospitals, fire and police agencies ? attempting to gauge the level of interest for purchasing Tamiflu at discounted rates.
In Cache County, Hyrum, Wellsville and River Heights ultimately decided they wanted in. Of the three, Wellsville has ordered the most, with 41 treatment courses and 20 preventative courses at a total cost of $4,099.
Don Hartle, Wellsville?s city manager, told The Herald Journal earlier this year that the purpose of the purchase was to keep various city employees and emergency responders able to perform their duties and enable the city to carry out routine functions during a pandemic.
?When people flush their toilet, they expect the sewer to leave their home,? Hartle said. ?They expect to turn on the water and get water. It doesn?t matter if public works or the mayor is sick, they still feel that service needs to be provided.?
The Bear River Health Department is purchasing $19,246 worth of Tamiflu, and the Cache County Jail is spending $18,975, with that money coming from funds the jail collects from inmates. The Logan City Fire Department is also buying Tamiflu.
?The purchase is being made by the Logan City Fire Department,? said Logan Fire Chief Mark Meaker. ?However, the materials purchased will go to not only protect Logan City firefighters, but also the ambulance drivers who work on the Cache County Emergency Medical Services ambulances out in Hyrum and Smithfield.?
Keith Larsen, emergency services director for the Health Department, said the agency would be submitting the orders to the Utah Department of Health by the end of the week.
?We?ll send the orders to the state, and they?ve told us that they?ll get them to us as quick as they get them from the feds,? said Larsen.
The Tamiflu pills have a shelf life of seven years. If no declared pandemic occurs within that time, the pills ? which the department will store in a secure location ? will be discarded.
?(If) they expire, they?re no good ? we chuck ?em,? Larsen said. ?So it?s like a seven-year insurance policy.?
Some officials in the county have questioned whether the Tamiflu pills would be effective against the particular flu strain that could emerge in a pandemic.
?Right now, this is the best medication we have to treat flu,? Larsen said. ?If it?s still going to be that effective if it?s a pandemic strain, we don?t know. But the best science we have is that this should be very helpful.?


http://hjnews.townnews.com/articles/2008/05/23/news/news03.txt

 

[tropical]

Re: Utah - Wellsville Buys Tamiflu for Key City Employees for possible Pandemic Flu

“Right now, this is the best medication we have to treat flu,” Larsen said. “If it’s still going to be that effective if it’s a pandemic strain, we don’t know. But the best science we have is that this should be very helpful.”

Yes, that's the reason why buying Tamiflu - because it was primary recommended by the WHO guidelines.

If somebody thinks that's a corp. bus. reasons, it's primary an WHO duty to change the guidelines to oust oseltamivir from the worldwide suggested primary stocking list if it's scientificaly proved as a non-working med.

Second, about other better new antivirals (peramivir, etc.) - there are not enaugh available quantities for now.

A small city that buy any antiviral was at least trying to do something.
The big city that still don't buy anything is an much worst example.

Somebody can still named it snake oil.
But, frankly, what city major would send police/firefight./health personnel in the middle of a plague without any medicine, or vaccine?
That way the "necessary ones" will have a pill (or an prepand. vacc.) when they will must going to work.

The only alternative can be an full hazmat way of working, with decontamination places, special vehicles, and single dormitory rooms.
How THAT will cost?
Apart the police/fire/health. would be the other civilians able to work this way?

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Utah - Wellsville Buys Tamiflu for Key City Employees for possible Pandemic Flu

Cache County American Red cross

<table width="508"><tbody><tr> <td colspan="3">Links to information on Pandemic Flu. Each will open in a new browser window. </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="43"> </td> <td width="410">Printable Information (PDF Format) </td> <td width="39"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td>Fact Sheet: Pandemic Influenza </td> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td>Fact Sheet: Pandemic Influenza Family Preparedness - English </td> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td>Fact Sheet: Pandemic Influenze Family Preparedness - Spanish </td> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td>Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) </td> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td>Brochure: Home Care for Pandemic Flu - English </td> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td>Brochure: Home Care for Pandemic Flu - Spanish </td> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td>Coping and Emotional Well-Being



http://cachecounty.redcross.org/pandemic_flu.html
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