H1N1 Sick Health Care Workers

[FrenchieGirl]

H1N1 Sick Health Care Workers

Extracts of the article

Australia

The push coincides with confirmation that swine flu has hit the state's hospital system, with an Austin Hospital staff member returning a positive test late on Thursday night.

The Austin Hospital was yesterday tracing the contacts of the staff member ? who was in a non-clinical role that did not involve contact with patients ? to determine who else was at risk of contracting the virus.

It was also awaiting the results of tests of five colleagues of the staff member, also in non-clinical roles, who were showing flu-like symptoms.

A doctor told The Age that The Austin would not be the last hospital to be hit by swine flu.

"There's likely to be members of other health services affected (in the next few days)," he said.

Northcote GP Dr Harry Henley said his clinic was running out of "P2" masks that block virus transmission.

"There's an increased risk to doctors and patients, it's a major problem," he said. He also called for clearer information from the Government on when it was appropriate to prescribe anti-viral drugs to people with flu symptoms but no contact with a confirmed swine flu case.

 

[FrenchieGirl]

Re: H1N1 Sick Health Care Workers

United States - North Carolina

Extracts of the article

Chapel Hill ? A health-care worker with what was described as a mild case of H1N1 ? the so-called ?swine flu? ? has fully recovered after being voluntarily quarantined in her Orange County home.

Meanwhile, UNC Health Care officials are closely monitoring 17 patients who may have been exposed to the disease at the Durham pediatrics clinic run by UNC where she worked.

UNC announced on Friday (May 22) that an employee at its Highgate Family Medical Center had a confirmed case of H1N1. The clinic is near the intersection of Fayetteville Road and N.C. 54.

 

[FrenchieGirl]

Re: H1N1 Sick Health Care Workers

United States - North Carolina

Extracts of the article

ASHEVILLE — Buncombe County health officials have confirmed one case of swine flu in a Mission Hospital employee.

The state laboratory today confirmed that a nurse in the hospital’s endoscopy unit who fell ill earlier in the week with flu symptoms has the new H1N1 virus.

Ten employees, 11 patients, one physician, and one nurse anesthetist who were exposed to the flu symptoms, along with the woman’s family, are being treated with anti-viral medications, according to the hospital.

None of the exposed individuals have shown symptoms of the flu, and the nurse has been isolating herself at home. No other clusters or cases of virus have been identified in Buncombe County, and no one has shown up at the hospital or at local physician’s offices with symptoms of the virus.

 

[FrenchieGirl]

Re: H1N1 Sick Health Care Workers

CDC sees "something different" with new flu
Fri Jun 19, 2009 9:46am EDT

snip

And infections among healthcare workers suggest that people are showing up at work sick -- meaning that workplace policies may be contributing to its spread, the CDC officials said.

snip

One worrying pattern: healthcare workers are being infected, and most reported they did little or nothing to protect themselves, the CDC's Dr. Mike Bell said.

People coming into emergency departments or clinics need to be checked right away for flu symptoms and anyone working with such a patient needs to wear a mask, gloves and eyewear, Bell said.

"We're beginning to see a pattern of healthcare personnel-to-healthcare personnel transmission in some of the clusters, which is also concerning, because it gets to the issue of people showing up to work sick," Bell said.

Doctors, nurses and technicians who have flu can spread it to vulnerable patients, Bell noted.

As of May 13, the CDC said it had received 48 reports of healthcare workers infected with swine flu.

Detailed case reports on 26 showed that 13 were infected in a healthcare setting such as a clinic or hospital and 12 caught it from infected patients, the CDC said in its weekly report on death and disease.

 

[FrenchieGirl]

Re: H1N1 Sick Health Care Workers

Hospital quarantines dozens of patients after medical student diagnosed with swine flu

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 12:32 PM on 18th June 2009

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Dozens of hospital patients were quarantined yesterday after a medical student was diagnosed with swine flu.

The victim - who has not been identified - fell sick over the weekend and tested positive for the H1N1 virus on Tuesday.

Anxious bosses rushed to isolate the ward where the person worked and banned family and friends from visiting them.

'Frightening': Dozens of patients at Coventry University Hospital were quarantined yesterday after a medical student was diagnosed with swine flu (posed by model)

Anti-viral drugs have been given to patients and staff and the affected ward at Coventry University Hospital, West Mids has been closed.

One worried worker said: 'It's a frightening time at the hospital and we can only hope that the virus is contained.'

A spokesman for The University Hospital and NHS Coventry said the condition of patients would be 'closely monitored'.

He said: 'We have decided to take a precautionary measure of offering all patients and staff on the ward a course of antiviral mediation, Tamiflu.

'No patients on the ward have shown any symptoms and they will be closely monitored over the next few days.

'The ward is currently closed to visitors but that decision will be reviewed every 24 hours and the ward is expected to re-open soon.'

The West Midlands is now the worst hit region in the UK with 567 cases of swine flu after a further 55 were confirmed on Wednesday.

 

[FrenchieGirl]

Re: H1N1 Sick Health Care Workers

33 Babies Possibly Exposed To Swine Flu

Staff Member Exposed To H1N1 By Another Patient

UPDATED: 8:32 am EDT June 18, 2009


GREENSBORO, S.C. -- Babies in the neonatal intensive care unit at The Women's Hospital of Greensboro may have been exposed to the H1N1 flu virus, the Moses Cone Health System announced Wednesday afternoon.

Video: Babies Possibly Exposed To Swine Flu

A staff member may have unknowingly exposed the patients, the hospital said, adding that no infants appear to be infected at this point.

The staff member involved in the NICU exposure was exposed while treating a patient for possible asthma. Testing later determined the patient had H1N1. The patient is at Moses Cone Hospital and under strict respiratory precautions, the hospital said.

"The welfare of our patients is our top priority, and we are taking every precaution to ensure it," said Dr. Tim Lane. "We want to emphasize that none of the neonatal patients are showing any symptoms; however, we certainly want to ensure that they are protected."

The hospital said the 33 babies that may have been exposed are being treated with Tamiflu. The hospital is also screening all visitors and employees for signs and symptoms of infection before allowing them into the NICU. All parents, visitors and staff who may have been exposed are also being offered Tamiflu, the hospital said.

There were 125 confirmed cases of H1N1 by the North Carolina Department of Health Wednesday afternoon -- six in Alamance County, three in Guilford County and seven in Rockingham County.

"We are doing everything we can to protect those babies," Lane said.

 

[Diane Morin]

Re: H1N1 Sick Health Care Workers

Bonjour Frenchie,

Voici ce que j'ai rep?r? pour le Canada en fran?ais.


Qu?bec: Mesures exceptionnelles au CHUL - employ?s et visiteurs portent tous des masques - H?tel-Dieu et St-Fran?ois d'Assise touch?s ?galement

Qu?bec: 10 employ?s du CHUQ absents + 1/3 des employ?s r?fractaires ? la vaccination

Qu?bec: une infirmi?re du CHUQ-H?tel-Dieu de Qu?bec contracte le virus

Qu?bec: 10 membres du personnel de l'h?pital de Joliette en cong? forc? (2 confirm?s H1N1 et 8 avec des sympt?mes)

Qu?bec : membres du personnel de l'h?pital Enfant-J?sus de Qu?bec en traitement pr?ventif

Un docteur de l'Universit? McGill a contract? la grippe porcine

Saskatchewan: 21 personnes avec des sympt?mes et 5 positifs parmi les r?sidents et le personnel d'un centre pour personnes avec incapacit?s intellectuelles

Canada: Plus de personnel hospitalier attrapent la grippe de porcs

Un employ? d'h?pital de Toronto contracte la grippe de porcs

 

[FrenchieGirl]

Re: H1N1 Sick Health Care Workers

Bonjour Muscade. Merci pour l'info. Vraiment, il est n?cessaire que les h?pitaux et leur personnel redoublent de pr?cautions. Voici les derniers chiffres du CDC pour le personnel de sant? infect?.

Hello Muscade. Thanks for the information. Really, it's necessary that hospitals and their staff take enhanced precautions. Here are the last CDC figures for health care workers.

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81 U.S. healthcare workers have H1N1 virus

The CDC says about half of the workers caught the virus while on the job. The finding suggests that hospitals and workers are not taking sufficient preventive measures.

By Thomas H. Maugh II
June 19, 2009

At least 81 U.S. healthcare workers have contracted laboratory-confirmed cases of the novel H1N1 influenza virus and about half caught the bug on the job, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

The finding is worrisome because it suggests that hospitals and workers are not taking sufficient preventive measures to limit the spread of the virus.

If a large-scale outbreak of the virus recurs this fall, a similar infection rate could cause significant problems -- not only because it would limit the number of workers available to care for the sick, but also because the infected nurses, doctors and others could transmit the virus to debilitated patients before their own symptoms become apparent. Already-ill patients would be more likely to develop life-threatening side effects from the flu.

The report in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report studied 48 cases that occurred from the beginning of April to May 13, and concluded that "probably half were related to the healthcare setting," said Dr. Michael Bell of the CDC's Center for Preparedness, Detection and Control of Infectious Diseases. An additional 33 cases have been observed since then, but not studied in depth.

One of the key findings of the study, he said, is that potential patients with so-called swine flu "need to be identified at the front door" of the hospital so that personnel will know they need to take preventive measures, such as wearing masks, isolating the patients and paying particular attention to hand hygiene.

It is also "absolutely essential that healthcare personnel be vaccinated annually, for their own protection and to protect patients in hospitals," he added.

The agency is not recommending that all hospital personnel receive the antiviral drug Tamiflu, but that it be used prophylactically in personnel who have been exposed to the virus.

Agency officials are mildly surprised that the new flu virus is continuing its spread in the summer months, well after the normal end of the flu season. To date, there have been more than 17,800 laboratory-confirmed cases in the U.S., with 1,600 patients hospitalized and 44 deaths, according to Dr. Daniel Jernigan, an epidemiologist in the CDC's influenza division.

Worldwide, there have been nearly 40,000 confirmed cases in 88 countries, with 167 deaths.

In the U.S., the spread appears to be tapering off throughout most of the country but is continuing at relatively high levels in New England and New York state. And the confirmed cases may be the tip of the iceberg, Jernigan said. In areas such as New England and New York, an estimated 7% of the population has been infected, suggesting that hundreds of thousands of Americans have contracted the virus to date.

"The fact that we are seeing ongoing transmission now indicates that there is something different with the virus," Jernigan said. "It may also have to do with the complete lack of immunity among the younger population."

The spread in the Northeast may be because of cooler weather there, which favors transmission of the virus.

As schools have closed for the summer, the focus of transmission has shifted to summer camps, another place where children congregate. A Boy Scout camp in Asheville, N.C., for example, sent 19 scouts from Florida and Georgia home after they got sick and 10 tested positive for novel H1N1. Other students were quarantined.

Bell said the CDC had the same recommendations for camps as it did for schools: Sick children should be sent home and not allowed to return for a week or for 24 hours after the last symptoms disappeared.

In the week that ended June 6, the most recent period for which figures were available, 89% of laboratory tests for influenza viruses revealed the presence of H1N1. Only 1.8% of the tests revealed seasonal viruses. The rest were not sub-typed, which generally means that they were also novel H1N1.

The CDC is closely monitoring outbreaks in the Southern Hemisphere, which is now at the beginning of its flu season. Outbreaks are becoming more widespread in several places, such as Australia and Chile. Preliminary results suggest that most laboratory tests in the Southern Hemisphere are revealing the novel virus, implying that seasonal flu is being displaced.

Such findings suggest that seasonal flu may not be a significant problem during the coming winter flu season, but that the novel virus will. But Jernigan cautioned that the labs might not be looking for the seasonal virus, biasing the findings.

Virologists received a bit of a scare this week when researchers at the Adolfo Lutz Bacteriological Institute in Sao Paulo, Brazil, reported that they had isolated a mutated H1N1 virus from a patient who had recovered.

But academic researchers and scientists at the CDC discounted the report, noting that there were no changes in the portions of the virus that would alter its ability to spread or its pathogenicity.

[Same article, Google Translated into French]

81 travailleurs de la sant? des ?tats-Unis ont le virus H1N1

La CDC d?clare pr?s de la moiti? des travailleurs attrap? le virus en milieu de travail. La conclusion sugg?re que les h?pitaux et les travailleurs ne prennent pas suffisamment de mesures pr?ventives.


Par Thomas H. Maugh II
19 juin 2009

Au moins 81 travailleurs de la sant? des ?tats-Unis ont contract? des cas confirm?s en laboratoire de nouveaux virus de l'influenza H1N1 et environ la moiti? pris le bug sur l'emploi, les Centers for Disease Control and Prevention a dit jeudi.

Le constat est inqui?tant car il sugg?re que les h?pitaux et les travailleurs ne prennent pas suffisamment de mesures pr?ventives pour limiter la propagation du virus.

Si une ?pid?mie ? grande ?chelle du virus se reproduit cet automne, un taux d'infection peut causer des probl?mes importants - non seulement parce qu'elle limite le nombre de travailleurs disponibles pour soigner les malades, mais aussi parce que les malades d'infirmi?res, de m?decins et d'autres peut transmettre le virus aux patients affaiblis avant leurs propres sympt?mes deviennent apparents. D?j?, les malades seraient plus susceptibles de d?velopper la vie en danger des effets secondaires de la grippe.

Le rapport de la mortalit? et la morbidit? Rapport hebdomadaire ?tudi? 48 cas qui ont eu lieu depuis le d?but du mois d'avril ? Mai 13, et a conclu que ?probablement la moiti? ?taient li?es ? la mise en soins de sant??, a d?clar? le Dr Michael Bell de la CDC du Centre de pr?paration, de d?tection et de contr?le des maladies infectieuses. De plus, 33 cas ont ?t? observ?s depuis, mais pas ?tudi? en profondeur.

Une des principales conclusions de l'?tude, dit-il, est que les patients potentiels ? ce qu'on appelle la grippe porcine ?doivent ?tre identifi?s ? la porte" de l'h?pital, afin que le personnel de savoir dont ils ont besoin pour prendre des mesures pr?ventives, telles que le port masques, isoler les patients et en accordant une attention particuli?re ? l'hygi?ne des mains.

Il est aussi absolument essentiel que le personnel de sant? se faire vacciner chaque ann?e, pour leur propre protection et ? la protection des patients dans les h?pitaux ?, at-il ajout?.

L'agence ne recommande pas que tous le personnel de l'h?pital re?oivent le m?dicament antiviral Tamiflu, mais qu'il soit utilis? ? titre prophylactique de personnel qui ont ?t? expos?s au virus.

Fonctionnaires de l'Agence sont l?g?rement surpris que le nouveau virus de la grippe continue de s'?tendre dans les mois d'?t?, bien apr?s la fin normale de la saison de la grippe. ? ce jour, il ya eu plus de 17.800 cas confirm?s en laboratoire aux ?tats-Unis, avec 1600 patients hospitalis?s et 44 d?c?s, selon le Dr Daniel Jernigan, un ?pid?miologiste du CDC dans la division de la grippe.

Dans le monde, il ya eu pr?s de 40.000 cas confirm?s dans 88 pays, avec 167 d?c?s.

Aux ?tats-Unis, l'?cart semble ?tre d?gressivit? dans la plupart des pays, mais continue ? des niveaux relativement ?lev?s en Nouvelle-Angleterre et ?tat de New York. Et les cas confirm?s en mai de la pointe de l'iceberg, dit Jernigan. Dans des domaines tels que la Nouvelle-Angleterre et de New York, on estime que 7% de la population a ?t? infect?e, ce qui sugg?re que des centaines de milliers d'Am?ricains ont contract? le virus ? jour.

"Le fait que nous assistons ? la transmission en cours indique maintenant qu'il ya quelque chose de diff?rent avec le virus", a d?clar? Jernigan. "Il mai ont aussi ? voir avec l'absence totale de l'immunit? chez les plus jeunes."

La propagation dans le nord-mai-?tre parce que des temps plus frais, ce qui favorise la transmission du virus.

Comme les ?coles ont ferm? pour l'?t?, l'accent s'est d?plac? de la transmission ? des camps d'?t?, un autre lieu o? les enfants se rassemblent. Un camp scout ? Asheville, en Caroline du Nord, par exemple, a envoy? 19 scouts de la Floride et la G?orgie ? domicile apr?s avoir ?t? malade et 10 tests positifs pour les nouveaux H1N1. Les autres ?tudiants ?taient en quarantaine.

Bell a d?clar? que le CDC a les m?mes recommandations pour les camps comme elle l'a fait pour les ?coles: Les enfants malades doivent ?tre envoy?s ? la maison et pas le droit de retour pour une semaine ou 24 heures apr?s la derni?re sympt?mes ont disparu.

Dans la semaine qui s'est termin?e Juin 6, la p?riode la plus r?cente pour laquelle des chiffres sont disponibles, 89% des tests de laboratoire pour les virus de la grippe a r?v?l? la pr?sence de H1N1. Seuls 1,8% des tests ont r?v?l? des virus de saison. Le reste ne sont pas sous-typed, qui signifie g?n?ralement qu'ils sont aussi de nouveaux H1N1.

La CDC est ?troitement surveiller des foyers de l'h?misph?re sud, qui est maintenant au d?but de la saison de la grippe. Les flamb?es sont de plus en plus r?pandu dans plusieurs endroits, tels que l'Australie et le Chili. Les r?sultats pr?liminaires sugg?rent que la plupart des tests de laboratoire dans l'h?misph?re Sud sont r?v?lateurs du nouveau virus, ce qui implique que la grippe saisonni?re est d?plac?.

Ces r?sultats sugg?rent que la grippe saisonni?re mai ne pas ?tre un probl?me important au cours de la prochaine saison de la grippe en hiver, mais que les nouveaux virus. Jernigan, mais a averti que les laboratoires pourraient ne pas ?tre ? la recherche de virus de la saisonnalit?, la pond?ration des r?sultats.

Virologistes re?u un peu peur cette semaine, lorsque les chercheurs de l'Institut Adolfo Lutz bact?riologiques ? Sao Paulo, au Br?sil, ont indiqu? qu'ils avaient isol? un virus H1N1 mut? ? partir d'un patient qui avait r?cup?r?.

Mais les chercheurs universitaires et les scientifiques de la CDC promos le rapport, notant qu'il n'y avait pas de changements dans les parties du virus qui pourrait modifier sa capacit? de se propager ou de sa pathog?nicit?.