H1N1: Time for the facts

RALEIGH — The public health battle against the H1N1 flu virus — commonly called the swine flu — is primarily being fought on the local level.

"The local health departments have been on the frontline with trying to communicate with the communities," said Megan Davies, state epidemiologist. "We are a resource for local health departments."

In addition to serving as that resource, the state health officials spend time helping educate the public about the virus.

"We’re deliberately trying to overlap each other on that," Davies said.

One education tool is a public service announcement showing Gov. Bev Perdue getting her flu shot and encouraging North Carolinians on good hygiene habits. She implores North Carolinians to sneeze into a tissue and throw it away and cough into your upper arm or elbow.

"Let’s keep North Carolina healthy and prevent the spread of the flu," Perdue concludes.

Whether it’s workers on the job, students at school or participants in athletics, North Carolinians are urged to stay at home if they’re displaying flulike symptoms and remain at home until after their fever dissipates.

"The guidance is to treat students very similar to seasonal flu," Vanessa Jeter, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Instruction, said. She said that means keeping students at home until they are fever-free for 24 hours without the aid of fever medicines.

"Really, truly, washing your hands does make a difference," Jeter added.

Davies said it isn’t necessary to undertake extra cleaning efforts around the house though.

"Flu doesn’t persist on environmental surfaces for very long," Davies said. "There’s no special kind of cleaning that needs to happen."

Rick Strunk, associate executive director of the N.C. High School Athletic Association, said that good hygiene is a key to preventing the spread of the virus among participants in school athletics. Such athletes often come into close contact.

"We haven’t had any major setbacks," Strunk said. He said that good hygiene practices — such as players not sharing towels, water bottles, equipment or T-shirts — has been emphasized at regional meetings with coaches. Plus, he said, coaches already have an incentive to keep a sick team member from spreading the virus to teammates.

Davies said that flu viruses often come in waves. And North Carolina is experiencing its second wave of the H1N1 strain.

The first wave came in the spring. The second wave came after college students returned to their campuses for the fall semester and shortly afterward when public school students returned to class.

Davies said that currently the number of flu viruses is on the way down, signaling the possibility that the second wave could be ending before long.

However, Davies said "We need to be prepared to see a third wave,"noting that seasonal flu activity normally peaks in the winter and early spring months of February, March and early April.

She said that flu viruses are unpredictable and that she’s not going to try to predict what the H1N1 virus will do.

The state has followed Centers for Disease Control strategies for distributing and administering the H1N1 vaccine, Davies said. Davies said that people 65 and older seem to have some natural immunity to the H1N1 virus because a similar strain was around in the 1950s and 1960s. "It’s protecting them now," Davies said.

"In a typical flu season, 90 percent of the deaths are in people over 65 years old," Davies said. "In this epidemic, 95 percent of the deaths have been in people under 65 years old."

Barry Smith can be reached at bsmith@link.freedom.com.