H1N1 Presents Challenge to the Public and Public Health Professionals
The H1N1 influenza virus is causing a great deal of confusion among people in various populations. Vice President Biden indicated he had advised family members to avoid air transportaion among other precautions, which the Obama administration describes as off-message. Celebrities, i.e., Paris Hilton, had indicated they do not eat pork, erroneously assuming this is an effective way to avoid becoming infected with the H1N1 virus. Public health authorities in Fort Worth Texas are encouraging cancellation of public gatherings, i.e., May Fest, a May 1 festival, while the director of the Dallas County Health Department is encouraging planners of public gatherings to hold their events, while providing additional access to sanitary facilities and materials for participants.
This seems an ideal time for health educators to fill the breech. Without a doubt, H1N1 will be with us for a while. While it is the new kid on the block, other strains of influenza regularly kill tens of thousands of Americans each year and account for hundreds of thousands of hospital admissions. If H1N1 becomes endemic, it may increase the volume of deaths and hospital admissions by anywhere from 25% to 100%. While H1N1 is the focus of the public’s attention, it is a good time to educate the public about effective disease prevention practices. For school health educators, this is a prime time to reinforce instruction on disease prevention and emphasize the need for a sound school health program. For health educators in clinical settings, this provides an excellent opportunity to reinforce messages to fellow health professinals and patients about the need for performing effective disease prevention activities.
Kelly House
Mark J Kittleson
Margaret Sullivan
Maria Alexandrova
jodyearly
Shanell L. McGoy
Mainul Mustafa
M. Helen Hogue
Yuba
Okony K. Cham
Kamrun Mustafa
In seven days, between April 26 and May 2, there were 28 posts by 18 librarians, each representing an academic health science library. Each had developed a webpage of resources for their respective libraries and were sharing their creations among themselves.
I hope the community and school health educators have been busy aggregating electronic and other resources for their respective communities. I'd love to see some of the products of that work shared on the HEDIR.
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Thanks for your comment. I concur that it would be wonderful to see some of the products of health educators that focus on the H1N1 virus appearing on HEDIR.
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