Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.wickedlocal.com/middleton/news/x677442590
Middleton?s health agent proposes flu planning committee
By Brendan Lewis/blewis@cnc.com
Wed Apr 30, 2008, 01:40 PM EDT
Middleton - In 1968, it killed 30,000 Americans. In 1957, it killed 70,000 Americans. In 1918, it killed 500,000. And as time does tell, a case of pandemic influenza is not out of the question for this lifetime.
In response to the latest from the scientific community, Middleton has begun planting the seeds to form an emergency plan specifically crafted to address how the town will address communications with the public, the individuals with authority, and priority in handing out flu vaccines.
As the 20th century saw three cases of pandemic flu, experts are saying that communities should be prepared.
?It?s not ?if? we?re going to have a pandemic flu, but ?when,?? Middleton Health Agent Derek Fullerton said. ?It?s not something that comes around every 1,000 years.?
A pandemic flu occurs when a new strain of influenza emerges that adapts to humans and spreads as easily as a normal flu.
?There is little-to-no immunity in the general population,? Fullerton said to the various school, town, and emergency officials who attended Tuesday?s presentation inside the Middleton Police Department?s training room.
Fullerton also said the need for a community plan that only uses Middleton resources is a must because of the fact every other community could be on its own.
?Mutual aid is going to be out the door,? Fullerton said.
Fullerton went through a full evolution of how a pandemic could start and what effects Middleton could see in each progressing month from the national media blitz to the first cases reported in Boston.
?The biggest problem I see is panic,? said Frank Leary, a member of the Board of Directors for the Middleton Council on Aging and North Shore Elderly Services. Leary applauded the health agent for the report and the thoroughness that he hasn?t seen in similar presentations.
Fullerton proposed the formation of a Pandemic Flu Planning Committee to create an amendable, comprehensive management plan to be used in the case of a pandemic flu.
?We need community input, discussion, assistance, and collaboration,? Fullerton said at the presentation held at the Middleton Police Department?s training room.
Fullerton said the committee will need to figure out specifics such as how they will deal with people with disabilities and when they will know to shut down certain services.
Middleton Council on Aging Director Susan Gagnon said in some cases it is even necessary to have a gas station that will shut down and only fill up emergency vehicles.
Scientists are saying that avian influenza H5N1, which now primarily affects birds, has the potential to evolve into a strain that human bodies are not prepared to fight and could spread as easily as a normal flu.
While the strain H5N1 has led roughly 100 cases in humans, of which half died, it doesn?t easily spread from bird to human, and doesn?t spread ?readily and sustainably,? among humans. It has, though, caused the most widespread deaths among poultry on record, according to the World Health Organization.
While Middleton?s health department is usually known for food permits and septic systems, in the case of a pandemic the health agent would most likely rise to the level of a police or fire commander.
Like any normal strain of influenza, those with a pandemic flu will be infectious for two days before any symptoms surface, making the prevention of contamination that much more difficult.
Fullerton said Town Administrator Ira Singer has supported the hiring of a public health nurse for Middleton, and the decision will be up to Town Meeting May 13.
?That would be a huge step?in emergency planning,? Fullerton said about the hiring of a health nurse.
Another step Fullerton has also taken to prepare for emergency medical situations is recently signing up Middleton in the Region 3 Medical Reserve Corp., a consortium of multiple Essex County communities.
Middleton?s health agent proposes flu planning committee
By Brendan Lewis/blewis@cnc.com
Wed Apr 30, 2008, 01:40 PM EDT
Middleton - In 1968, it killed 30,000 Americans. In 1957, it killed 70,000 Americans. In 1918, it killed 500,000. And as time does tell, a case of pandemic influenza is not out of the question for this lifetime.
In response to the latest from the scientific community, Middleton has begun planting the seeds to form an emergency plan specifically crafted to address how the town will address communications with the public, the individuals with authority, and priority in handing out flu vaccines.
As the 20th century saw three cases of pandemic flu, experts are saying that communities should be prepared.
?It?s not ?if? we?re going to have a pandemic flu, but ?when,?? Middleton Health Agent Derek Fullerton said. ?It?s not something that comes around every 1,000 years.?
A pandemic flu occurs when a new strain of influenza emerges that adapts to humans and spreads as easily as a normal flu.
?There is little-to-no immunity in the general population,? Fullerton said to the various school, town, and emergency officials who attended Tuesday?s presentation inside the Middleton Police Department?s training room.
Fullerton also said the need for a community plan that only uses Middleton resources is a must because of the fact every other community could be on its own.
?Mutual aid is going to be out the door,? Fullerton said.
Fullerton went through a full evolution of how a pandemic could start and what effects Middleton could see in each progressing month from the national media blitz to the first cases reported in Boston.
?The biggest problem I see is panic,? said Frank Leary, a member of the Board of Directors for the Middleton Council on Aging and North Shore Elderly Services. Leary applauded the health agent for the report and the thoroughness that he hasn?t seen in similar presentations.
Fullerton proposed the formation of a Pandemic Flu Planning Committee to create an amendable, comprehensive management plan to be used in the case of a pandemic flu.
?We need community input, discussion, assistance, and collaboration,? Fullerton said at the presentation held at the Middleton Police Department?s training room.
Fullerton said the committee will need to figure out specifics such as how they will deal with people with disabilities and when they will know to shut down certain services.
Middleton Council on Aging Director Susan Gagnon said in some cases it is even necessary to have a gas station that will shut down and only fill up emergency vehicles.
Scientists are saying that avian influenza H5N1, which now primarily affects birds, has the potential to evolve into a strain that human bodies are not prepared to fight and could spread as easily as a normal flu.
While the strain H5N1 has led roughly 100 cases in humans, of which half died, it doesn?t easily spread from bird to human, and doesn?t spread ?readily and sustainably,? among humans. It has, though, caused the most widespread deaths among poultry on record, according to the World Health Organization.
While Middleton?s health department is usually known for food permits and septic systems, in the case of a pandemic the health agent would most likely rise to the level of a police or fire commander.
Like any normal strain of influenza, those with a pandemic flu will be infectious for two days before any symptoms surface, making the prevention of contamination that much more difficult.
Fullerton said Town Administrator Ira Singer has supported the hiring of a public health nurse for Middleton, and the decision will be up to Town Meeting May 13.
?That would be a huge step?in emergency planning,? Fullerton said about the hiring of a health nurse.
Another step Fullerton has also taken to prepare for emergency medical situations is recently signing up Middleton in the Region 3 Medical Reserve Corp., a consortium of multiple Essex County communities.