A New York Times article Saturday, “Cut Back on Tamiflu, U.S. Official Says”, by Donald G. McNeil, Jr. reports that the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) is asking kids’ summer camps to stop distributing Tamiflu prophylactically, because the agency worries that “giving the drug to healthy people wastes the world’s limited supplies of Tamiflu and [...]
Give Tamiflu Prophylactically Or Not? When Personal & National Preparedness Can Conflict
July 26th, 2009 · 1 Comment
Tags: Pandemic Flu
The ‘No-Win’ Public/Media Communications Challenge For Officials On Possible Fall H1N1 Flu Outbreak
July 26th, 2009 · No Comments
I read a very smart and helpful post, “Hubris And The Flu” this morning from the blog Avian Flu Diary about the challenge for government in communicating with the public and the media on H1N1.
The piece does a very nice job of illustrating the almost ‘no-win’ communications dilemma governmental entities have on H1N1 (and potential [...]
Tags: Media · Pandemic Flu
H1N1 Hits Home; I’m On Tamiflu
July 23rd, 2009 · 2 Comments
This blog often covers my own first-person experiences. The most recent was a bit of a surprise. After covering the H1N1 flu from a distance as a blogger, the virus has hit home. This week, one of my family members was diagnosed with H1N1. She’s already feeling better, and the rest of the family is [...]
Tags: Pandemic Flu · Preparedness Ideas
“Got Swine Flu? Tweet It”
July 21st, 2009 · 4 Comments
MercuryNews.com has an article, “Got Swine Flu? Tweet It?”, about Santa Clara (California) County’s Public Health Department’s H1N1 flu prevention campaign which will aggressively utilize social media tools to focus on young people:
When students return to school this fall, school nurses will once again chase after them with hand sanitizer. Familiar posters about sneezing into [...]
Tags: City Preparedness · Pandemic Flu · State Preparedness
New Survey Says 59% Of Americans Expect Widespread H1N1 Flu Outbreak Later In Year; Not As Concerned About Personal Risk, But Worry About School And Workplace Policies
July 16th, 2009 · No Comments
Almost six in ten Americans (59%) believe it is very or somewhat likely that there will be widespread cases of Influenza A (H1N1) with people getting very sick this coming fall or winter, according to a new poll released today by the Harvard Opinion Research Program at the Harvard School of Public Health. The full survey [...]
Tags: Pandemic Flu · Public Health Preparedness · Public Opinion
Summing Up The H1N1 Summit From Citizen POV: Start Preparing For Possible Severe Fall Outbreak; Federal, State, Local Officials Now ‘Working The Problems’ On Policies/Logistics For Schools, Workplaces, Vaccine Distribution & Risk Communications
July 12th, 2009 · 10 Comments
I had the opportunity to attend Thursday’s U.S. H1N1 Flu Preparedness Summit held at the campus of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. The all-day event was organized by the Obama Administration to focus attention on preparation for and response to a possible more serious H1N1 outbreak in the Fall. Five hundred [...]
Tags: Department of Homeland Security · Government Education Programs · Government Web Sites · Pandemic Flu · President Obama · Public Health Preparedness
Good Question: “Twitter Growing Virally But Can It Stop Viruses?”
July 11th, 2009 · 1 Comment
In a post on the Software Advice blog, “Twitter Growing Virally But Can It Stop Viruses?”, Chris Thoman argues that Twitter could play a significant role in epidemiology. He writes:
The combination of Twitter and epidemiology presents an interesting opportunity: What if doctors twittered about symptoms they observed and diagnoses they made? What if that information [...]
Tags: Preparedness 2.0 · Public Health Preparedness
Thursday’s “H1N1 Flu Preparedness Summit” Can Be Followed On Web, Including On This Blog
July 8th, 2009 · No Comments
I am in Bethesda, Maryland to cover the “H1N1 Flu Preparedness Summit” which will take place Thursday at the National Institutes of Health. The schedule of speakers is here. I will be writing about the Summit on the blog. But if you want to follow the proceedings contemporaneously you can do so on the web [...]
Tags: Pandemic Flu · Preparedness Events
New Study Shows State/Local Health Departments Vary On Web Information Delivered To Public During H1N1 Outbreak
July 8th, 2009 · No Comments
A new report gives state and local health departments mixed grades for distributing information through the internet to the public during the H1N1 outbreak. According to an article in U.S. News & World Report:
After the U.S. government declared a public health emergency in April, 46 of 50 state health departments posted some information about the [...]
Tags: City Preparedness · Preparedness 2.0 · Public Health Preparedness · State Preparedness
Administration To Hold H1N1 Flu Preparedness Summit Next Week; Hopefully Public Issues/Questions To Get Airing
July 3rd, 2009 · No Comments
The Obama Administration will be holding a H1N1 Flu Preparedness Summit on Thursday at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and Homeland Security Advisor John Brennan will host the all-day parley to further prepare the nation for the possibility [...]
Tags: Pandemic Flu · Preparedness Conferences · Preparedness Events