- Health care staff will be front liners in the fight against a possible outbreak and must remain vigilant for anyone suspected to be infected with the avian flu. Keep in mind that it will take a while before the real symptoms appear. Once the real disease occurs, what can one do to stop the spread of the disease? What preparations do you need to stay focused when it occurs? What are some of our worries?
Avian flu is worst than any other type of flu in known history. Naturally, occurring in birds, the question this raises is why are humans getting infected? With the new technologies in genome and DNA testing, the virus is the most unstable of all organisms that world is facing today. Viruses are always transforming, replicating, and adapting to a new form. Before one finds a treatment, it eludes us. It can get stronger and deadlier or it can weaken or vanish. When will this be? The most important thing to do right now is to prepare for a potential pandemic outbreak. Health care staff must always remain prepared.
Healthcare Professionals Responsibilities
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued guidelines to ensure the safety of healthcare staff that might be exposed to any suspected individual with early signs and symptoms of flu. Every year, most healthcare facilities offer flu shots to their employees. It is the responsibility of the health care staff to get vaccinated to safeguard against the other forms of the flu. Health care staff must remain vigilant at all times.
Attend hospital-based Emergency and Disaster Preparedness seminars and drills. These drills and information sessions are very helpful in increasing ones awareness so that staff have shared mental model of what to do in case of an exposure or possible disease outbreak. Learn the process and procedure to be initiated when a suspected individual is identified. The key is control and containment. Notify the CDC Director’s Emergency Operations Center at 770-488-7100 for further instructions.
The suspected individual seen in the health care facilities must be isolated and special containment, such as air-borne, droplet, or direct contact precautionary measures must be initiated immediately. The CDC also recommends collection of blood sample from the suspected person at the point of contact who is sick for the first week and followed by another blood samples collected after 3 weeks of the onset of sickness. This blood sample is then sent to the Laboratory Response Network (LRN). Other specimen to be collected are nose and throat swabs and sputum specimen that must be handled with precautionary measures as specified by the CDC guidelines.
The CDC has authorized 140 special laboratory centers nationwide known as Laboratory Response Network (LRN), that are designated to handle any contaminated or viral isolated specimens sent from the different health care facilities. The specimens received from the community and health care facilities will be tested using a new assay test called rapid avian flu test known as the viral real time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) assay test for influenza type A, H1, H3, and H5N1. The LRN works collaboratively with the different health care facilities or community programs to facilitate testing of the specimen. The health care facility that has level three clearance from the CDC is the only facility that can conduct the rapid avian-flu-test other than the LRN.
The whole new perspective of managing this evolving flu that can wipe an entire population is prevention and early intervention.
Read any latest CDC updates and any alert notices and to name some of the latest articles, visit off-links sites:
Should healthcare staff worry about avian flu?
Interim Recommendations for Infection Control Health Care Facilities Caring for patients with Known or Suspected Avian Influenza
Ten things you need to know about pandemic influenza
Latest Avian Flu Outbreaks
