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Hurricane season 2009 is winding down. Hopefully, we are done for this year, but hurricanes is not all we do. Visit regularly for more preparedness information.
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H1N1 "Swine" Flu
- Updated 11/13/2009
2009 H1N1 Vaccine is now available, though supplies continue to come in at a slow rate. Until supplies increase significantly, public health officials are asking for your support in allowing the highest risk individuals be vaccinated first. These include the following:
- Pregnant women
- Children and young adults 6 months through 24 years
- Adults 25 through 64 years old with medical conditions (i.e. asthma, diabetes, etc.)
- Persons who have close contact with children under 6 months of age (i.e. parents, siblings, childcare providers)
- Health care and emergency medical service personnel
An aid in identifying vaccination sites can be found on the Alabama Department of Public Health website at http://dph.state.al.us/publiccal/h1n1.aspx.
Public health officials are concerned that the general public is not taking H1N1 influenza very seriously. Many people perceive this flu to be mild with most case lasting only a few days with milder symptoms than other flu strains. What many do not understand is that when cases are serious, the affects on the body are different than other, more "typical" strains of flu. Patients may experience damage to the lungs causing poor oxygen transfer which can result in being put on a ventilator. This impact on the lungs also leads to secondary respiratory infections which can cause death.
There is also a great concern over the uncertainty with respect to how this virus may mutate as time goes on. Due to this uncertainty, the atypical affects of serious infection, and the number of cases and deaths this early in the season, many government officials have begun referring to this outbreak as a pandemic. While that term may not seem appropriate for the outbreak at this time, it may very well be that by January, the severity of this outbreak will be more evident.
Common precautions to reduce the spread of flu are recommended. To be most effective, those who have flu-like symptoms need to be mindful that they can help control the spread of the disease by staying out of the public until their symptoms are gone. In most cases, symptoms have been relatively mild, so medical attention may not be necessary. Remember that going to the doctor's office may actually spread the disease to others, so you might do best to call the doctor's office for advice before going in. The same would apply to the emergency room. Only go if it is really an emergency. The ADPH website has links to information on what you can do to help prevent the spread of this disease.
Use a NOAA Weather Radio
To make sure you and your family are StormReady, you need to have a NOAA Weather Radio. These are available from several local retailers and have improved greatly since they first became available over 20 years ago.
We highly recommend the models with S.A.M.E. capability. Before S.A.M.E., your radio would alert for any watch or warning in the area covered by the transmitter to which it was tuned. Now, radios with S.A.M.E. capability can be programmed with a code for the particular county or counties for which you want to receive alerts, so that you can be certain that when your radio alerts, it is really of interest to you. Remember, a weather radio is the only thing that can alert you to a tornado warning if you are asleep!
To set your radio, properly, consult the instruction manual that is included with the unit you purchase. For your information, a map of all of the NOAA radio transmitters in Alabama is available in our documents section. The Clarke County transmitter is the best choice for Western areas of Monroe County, while the Brewton transmitter is better for most Eastern areas of the county. The Northeastern areas of the county may receive better signals from the Greenville transmitter. No matter where you are, make sure you listen to the received signal and select the channel based on the best signal quality. The S.A.M.E. code for Monroe County is 001099. Codes for other counties can be found at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/CntyCov/nwrAL.htm.
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