Tracking the latest on swine flu

 
A tech-savvy friend passed along this article from Computerworld, about how the Centers for Disease Control is using a new "near real-time'' system hosted by GE Healthcare to better figure out what's going on with swine flu and seasonal flu.

The system lets the CDC collect data on 14-million patients across the U.S., directly from their doctors or hospitals. The idea is to quickly identify outbreak hot spots so public health authorities can alert people in the area, get the latest information on which kinds of patients are suffering serious complications, and what kinds of symptoms doctors are seeing.

What this means is that instead of it taking days and weeks to get information back from the field, CDC scientists get updates every 24 hours. That way, they know better where to send vaccine, drugs and expertise. Patients' names and other identifying information are scrubbed from the data, in accord with federal law.

All of which may give some comfort to people who wonder how health officials can know much about H1N1, which first emerged in the spring.

For you pandemic watchers at home, if you haven't found it already, check out this site. Flu Tracker uses Google Maps and a variety of official sources and news accounts to tell you how many cases of flu have been reported around the world. It has Florida figures, but doesn't get any more local than the statewide tally.

Charlotte Sutton, health and medicine editor

[AP photo from a drive thru H1N1 vaccination clinic in San Pablo, Calif. Thursday]

Worship in the age of swine flu

At Christ the King Catholic Church in Tampa, instead of dipping fingers into small vessels of holy water at the doors of the sanctuary, parishioners are being offered alcohol based hand sanitizer.

When the congregation greets one another as a rite of welcome at the beginning of mass, it is now done verbally, with no physical contact. The sign of peace, usually a handshake, a kiss on the cheek or an embrace, has been suspended until further notice. So has drinking wine from the communal cup during communion. Blame H1N1 influenza and the potentially deadly threat of swine flu.

Christ the King’s pastor, Monsignor Desmond Daly, makes no apologies for taking such drastic measures. “We have parish families who have had this flu. Children at our school have had it. I know how bad it can be,” says Daly.

Those are big changes for a Catholic church where shaking hands and drinking from a communal cup are longstanding traditions, integral to worship. The changes were announced and instituted at all masses over the weekend. As of late Monday, Daly had only two complaints. “I expected more,” he says, “But it’s early days.”

The Times contacted other churches in the Tampa Bay area and all report increasing awareness of hand sanitizer use among their congregations but none have gone as far as Daly. Reverend Jim Harnish, Senior Pastor at Hyde Park United Methodist Church in Tampa said, “We tried to stop shaking hands last spring when the (H1N1) outbreak became so bad, but it was almost impossible.” Instead, Harnish has publicly assured his parishioners that it’s ok not to shake hands at services and events. Additionally, those who help with services use hand sanitizer in full view of the congregation before distributing bread for communion.

 How does Daly feel about being the Lone Ranger on this issue? “I’m completely unrepentant about it. I believe in being proactive.”

Irene Maher, Times staff writer

Symptoms of strep throat

White patches in the throat, swollen tonsils and pain when swallowing may be a sign of strep throat, a bacterial infection treatable with antibiotics. Your doctor can perform a rapid, in-office test to confirm the diagnosis. 

Irene Maher, Staff Health Writer

Get your questions answered about kids and swine flu

Dr. Juan Dumois, director of the pediatric infectious disease program at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, will answer your flu questions from 1 to 2 p.m. Friday. Submit your questions now, then come back to find the answers from Dumois.

More answers to your H1N1 (swine) flu questions

Dr. Claude Dharamraj, director of the Pinellas County Health Department, is answering readers' questions about H1N1 (swine) flu. Here's the latest batch; please add your own questions for her, and see last week's column at our swine flu page:

Q: Why are pregnant women at risk for more serious cases of swine flu?

A:  Regrettably, pregnant women have died from the H1N1 (swine) flu. According to the Centers for Disease Control, pregnant women are more likely to develop serious—and even fatal—cases of H1N1 than the general population. Pregnant women in their third trimesters are more likely to be hospitalized with serious flu symptoms than women who are not pregnant. This was also the case during the 1918 and 1957 flu pandemics. Respiratory diseases in pregnant women may be worse because the growing baby decreases a woman’s lung capacity at the same time that her immune system is protecting the baby instead of the mother. We strongly urge pregnant women to receive the prepackaged, single-dose, preservative-free (no thimerosal) injectable H1N1 (swine) flu vaccine, which will be available very soon to protect both Mom and baby.

Swine flu questions? We'll get answers

In today's Times, Dr. Claude Dharamraj, director of the Pinellas County Health Department, answered some frequently asked questions about H1N1 (swine) flu and the vaccine against the virus. She'll be taking more reader questions and answering them as the outbreak and vaccine campaign continue.

So, what do you want to ask Dr. Dharamraj? I can tell you she got her own swine flu shot today at noon (as you can see in the photo), so if you've wondered what it feels like, I'm sure she'll be happy to report back.

On a related note, I can tell you that I got my seasonal flu shot last night at my doctor's office, as I've done every year for more than a decade. And as usual, my shoulder was a little sore at first, but feels fine now. I'll get my swine flu shot as soon as it's available, since I'm one of those people who can't use the nasal spray version.

In case you're wondering...I haven't had flu since I started the vaccinations -- whether that's luck or the shots, I don't know.

I reported this to my yoga teacher this morning. She told me she never gets flu shots, because she had one at age 16 and soon after got sick with the flu.

So here's today's question for Dr. Dharamraj:

If you got a flu shot once, and then you got the flu right after, why would you even consider getting a flu shot now?

We'll report back with the answer as soon as we have it.

Meanwhile, what's your flu question? We'll pass it along to the doctor for consideration in a future question-and-answer column. Sorry, but she can't do any personal replies.

Charlotte Sutton, Health and Medicine editor

[Photo: Pinellas County Health Department]

Keep flu at home

Stay home from work, school, the mall, grocery store etc, if you develop flu symptoms: fever, chills, sore throat, cough, lethargy, body aches, runny or stuffy nose, diarrhea or vomiting. Limit contact with others especially those at high risk for flu-related complications including people with cancer, heart or lung disease, organ transplant patients, anyone over age 65 or under age 5, and pregnant women.

Irene Maher, Staff Health Writer

Hands down flu prevention

Habitually bite your nails, rub your eyes, scratch your nose? Stop! That's how we pick up and ingest germs, including the seasonal and H1N1 or swine flu viruses. Keep hands away from your eyes, nose and mouth. If necessary, touch with a tissue. Then toss it. Teach kids to do the same.

Irene Maher, Staff Health Writer

Keep the flu to yourself

The flu, seasonal or H1N1, is spread when infected people cough or sneeze. Because you can be infected and not have symptoms yet, don't forget to cough or sneeze into a tissue, covering your nose and mouth, then throw the tissue away and wash your hands. Can't get a tissue in time? Use the bend of your elbow. Teach children to do the same.

Irene Maher, Staff Health Writer

Go on, wash your hands ... again!

Because there's a study for everything these days, we bring you this dispatch from the Soap and Detergent Association:

Looks like more Americans are heeding advice about washing hands to keep from spreading the swine flu virus. An August survey found that: 
 
--50% say they wash their hands more than 10 times per day (up from 36% in 2008).
--70% wash up at least 7 times per day (up from 62%).
--More Americans claim to always wash their hands before eating lunch, after coughing or sneezing and after using the bathroom. 
 

But there are still holdouts:

 
--While 62% of women are washing more than 10 times per day, only 37% of men are doing the same.
--39% of respondents seldom or never wash their hands after coughing or sneezing (on par with 2008).
--46% of respondents wash their hands for 15 seconds or less (on par with 2008).  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (and, not suprirsingly, the Soap and Detergent Association) recommend washing with soap and water for at least 15-20 seconds. 
 
And just to prove that human behavior often makes no sense:

--65% expressed concern about H1N1 flu, but only one-third of respondents said they changed their overall hygiene habits in response to the threat.
 
Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go celebrate International Clean Hands Week (that would be now) with a nice, 20-second hand scrub.

Charlotte Sutton, health and medicine editor