MGCCC swine flu update

August 20, 2009

Welcome to the 2009-10 academic year! Our college administration has been monitoring reports and media releases relative to the emergency preparation and planning required for responding to an outbreak of swine flu. Cases of the novel H1N1 virus (commonly called swine flu) have dotted the globe. Now, the respiratory infection, caused by influenza A viruses, has hit South Mississippi. There have been 413 Mississippi cases of H1N1 swine flu that have been identified since May 15. Eighty-three cases have been reported in the college’s four-county district, with one death in Jackson County. Gulf Coast employees and students are advised to continue exercising protective hygiene to avoid illness during the possibly severe upcoming flu season.

Campus vice presidents have been reviewing emergency plans and are encouraging all students, faculty, staff and administration to take the necessary precautions and to encourage all individuals to adopt infection-control procedures. We will continue to keep you updated through the Web site and the President’s Messages as to the college’s response to the situation.

People infected with the H1N1 flu may be able to infect others from one day before getting sick to five to seven days after. This can be longer in some people, especially children and people with weakened immune systems. Taking the necessary precautions to protect you and your family is vital in the fight against the spread of the swine flu virus. The following information is provided to help ensure your protection.

Personal Precautions

Take these everyday steps to protect your health:

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
• Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
• If you are sick with flu-like illness, CDC recommends that you stay home for at least 24 hours after the fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. (Your fever should be gone without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.) Keep away from others as much as possible to keep from making others sick. Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. Put your used tissue in the waste basket. Then, clean your hands, and do so every time you cough or sneeze.

Other important actions that you can take are the following:

• Follow public-health advice regarding school closures, avoiding crowds and other social-distancing measures.
• Be prepared in case you get sick and need to stay home for a week or so. A supply of over-the-counter medicines, alcohol-based rubs, tissues and other related items could be useful and help avoid the need to make trips out in public while you are sick and contagious.
• Studies have shown that influenza viruses can survive on environmental surfaces and can infect a person for two to eight hours after being deposited on the surface.
• Influenza viruses are destroyed by heat. In addition, several chemical germicides, including chlorine, hydrogen peroxide, detergents (soap), iodophors (iodine-based antiseptics) and alcohols, are effective against human influenza viruses if used in proper concentration for a sufficient length of time. For example, wipes or gels with alcohol in them can be used to clean hands. The gels should be rubbed into hands until they are dry.
• Employees who are well but who have an ill family member at home with novel H1N1 flu can go to work as usual. These employees should monitor their health every day, and take everyday precautions, including washing their hands often with soap and water, especially after they cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective. If they become ill, they should notify their supervisor and stay home. Employees who have an underlying medical condition or who are pregnant should call their health-care provider for advice, because they might need to receive influenza antiviral drugs to prevent illness.

Certain people are at “high risk” of serious complications. This includes:

• people 65 years and older
• children younger than 5 years old
• pregnant women
• people of any age with certain chronic medical conditions (diabetes, heart disease, asthma and kidney disease)

If you become ill and experience any of the following warning signs, seek emergency medical care.

In children, emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention include the following:

• Fast breathing or trouble breathing
• Bluish or gray skin color
• Not drinking enough fluids
• Severe or persistent vomiting
• Not waking up or not interacting
• Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held
• Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough

In adults, emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention include the following:

• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
• Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
• Sudden dizziness
• Confusion
• Severe or persistent vomiting
• Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough

Vaccines are the best tool we have to prevent influenza, and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) plan to make one available for those in high risk categories. The seasonal flu vaccine is unlikely to provide protection against novel H1N1 influenza, so a separate vaccine, which is currently in production, should be ready for public distribution this fall.

Spread of the H1N1 virus is thought to occur in the same way that seasonal flu spreads. Flu viruses are spread mainly from person to person through coughing or sneezing by people with influenza. Sometimes people may become infected by touching something –such as a surface or object– with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose.

The symptoms of novel H1N1 flu virus in people include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills, and fatigue. A significant number of people who have been infected with this virus also have reported diarrhea and vomiting. Illness with the new H1N1 virus has ranged from mild to severe. While most people who have been sick have recovered without needing medical treatment, hospitalizations and deaths from infection with this virus have occurred.

The following Web sites will provide updates and useful resources/information as they become available:

http://www.pandemicflu.gov
http://www.healthyms.com
http://www.cdc.gov
http://www.mde.k12.ms.us

Sincerely,

Willis H. Lott, President