Re: Severe Flu Cases Surge in Manitoba - Aboriginal Community Hit Hard
Source:
http://www.nationalpost.com/blogs/story.html?id=1765098
First Nations pandemic teams bracing for fall flu carnage
Carol Sanders, Winnipeg Free Press Published: Monday, July 06, 2009
Minister of Health Leona Aglukkaq has met with the chiefs of communities in Manitoba hit hard by swine flu.Blair Gable/ReutersMinister of Health Leona Aglukkaq has met with the chiefs of communities in Manitoba hit hard by swine flu.
A day after Manitoba marked its fifth death from the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, First Nations emergency planners in the province gathered on Monday to talk about how to prevent carnage in their communities this fall, when the flu is expected to surge.
Sagkeeng is taking a cue from its elders and healers who've survived previous epidemics, said Christian Edwards, the community's fire chief and pandemic plan co-ordinator.
His community is trying to get back to healthier ways of living.
A campaign in the schools has encouraged children to drink water instead of pop, and already produced results in happier, healthier kids, he said.
Students are helping elders to pick traditional herbs and plants like sage and juniper for medicine, said Mr. Edwards.
He was one of dozens of delegates attending a Southern Chiefs Organization H1N1 training session funded by the federal First Nation and Inuit Health Branch.
While the flu is expected to slow down over the summer, there are still powwows and other big gatherings where the virus can be spread during the months of July and August.
But a real surge in flu cases is expected in the fall when people are back in school and working in close quarters.
An H1N1 vaccine is also expected to be ready in October or November, requiring plans for a massive vaccination program.
In places like Sagkeeng, about 110 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, there are elders who remember the ravages of the 1918 Spanish flu in the community.
"If they got it in the morning, they were dead by night time," said Mr. Edwards.
There is a mass grave in Sagkeeng for those flu victims, said Mr. Edwards.
Mr. Edwards said his community, with 4,400 on-reserve residents, has four confirmed flu cases and is close to running out of hand sanitizer. They were given 18 one-litre dispensers, each with a one-litre refill. There are 20 public buildings in Sagkeeng.
Mr. Edwards said he has faith in flu-fighting plans, and that the communities will be equipped to deal with the outbreak.
"The world today is more ready than it's ever been to cope with a pandemic," he said.
Earlier in the outbreak, each First Nation was given a July 15 deadline for submitting pandemic plans to the First Nation and Inuit Health Branch.
"We really need to get a sense of what level of preparedness our communities have," said Jim Wolfe, the health branch regional director.
The province has millions of masks, gowns and gloves stockpiled in case of a surge in severe flu cases, Gerry Delorme with Manitoba Health told the first nation pandemic planners.
The province is responsible for guiding the response to a pandemic, while the federal First Nation and Inuit Health Branch is responsible for helping First Nations develop pandemic plans.
A nurse in one first nation asked how they were supposed to predict how much vaccine they'd need when there's no final word on who the vaccine would help the most.
"That criteria will be based on our experience today of who's getting sick," said Dr. Linda Poffenroth, medical health officer with the First Nation and Inuit Health Branch.
Dr. Poffenroth said those most at risk of getting severely sick from the H1N1 virus are people with underlying health conditions and women in their third trimester of pregnancy or within a month of having their baby.
She was asked what would happen if there weren't enough ventilators, or breathing machines, to meet the demand if there is a surge in severe flu, which attacks the lungs.
"There are going to be some incredibly difficult decisions to make," said Dr. Poffenroth.
A number of factors would be considered by ethics committees, including the likelihood of a person getting better, and age. "We would like to think that our children would be looked after."
carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
