New York Gov. David Paterson has declared a state of emergency because of the rise in swine flu cases.

The executive order means that far more health care professionals – including dentists – will be permitted to administer vaccines with only brief training. The order is needed to suspend provisions of state law.

State officials say the number of vaccine doses is also being increased. The federal government is ramping up availability of the vaccine, allowing the state to order twice as many doses as a week ago, a trend that’s expected to continue.

The executive order obtained by The Associated Press says at least 75 deaths in the state have been attributed to the swine flu.

Source: AP

The first phase of H1N1 immunizations in city schools got underway this morning.

According to the Department of Education, 125 elementary schools across the city with enrollment of less than 400 students began giving vaccines to children during regular school hours.

Parents were given the vaccination forms last week, but officials say response has been low, with only 30 percent of the forms being returned.

Health officials are saying there will soon be enough doses of the vaccine to go around.

Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say more than 22 million doses of the vaccine are now available, meaning that 8 million doses have become available in the last week alone.

“Eventually, there will be enough vaccine for all who want to be vaccinated to get vaccinated,” said CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden. “We wish we had more vaccine available now, we wish it had been available weeks or even months earlier but we are beginning to get to a significant increase in the availability.”

The second phase of immunizations at city schools will begin on November 4 and the third will begin November 9.

The city will also run free public H1N1 vaccination clinics on weekends in each borough for middle and high school students.

To find out when specific schools will be offering the vaccine, visit nyc.gov/flu.

Source: NY1

New York City schools will start vaccinating students against swine flu next week.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is urging parents to sign the consent forms that are going home with schoolchildren.

Bloomberg joined Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and Health Commissioner Thomas Farley on Tuesday for a news conference about the vaccination program.

They said the swine flu vaccine will be offered for free at all city elementary schools — public and private — starting Oct. 28.

Farley said he expects to have enough vaccine for all of the schools.

Bloomberg said parents can have their children vaccinated at a doctor’s office or a clinic if they prefer.

Source: AP

Amid a chorus of protests from nurses, a state Health Department official Tuesday defended the state’s decision to mandate flu vaccines for health care workers because too few had voluntarily gotten the shot in the past.

Dr. Guthrie Birkhead, deputy commissioner in the state Department of Health, told the heads of four Assembly committees at a packed Assembly hearing room in Manhattan that the discussion to make flu vaccine mandatory has been going on for the last two years – well before the outbreak of swine flu.

Birkhead said in the past only about 30 percent of health care workers got the seasonal flu vaccine, compared with 80 to 90 percent of hospital patients. “This was year after year after year,” he said.

In August, using emergency powers, the state health commissioner said all health care workers must get both the seasonal and H1N1 vaccines to protect patients.

But nurses at the hearing complained they were kept out of the state’s decision-making process, their civil rights had been violated and the state was ignoring other safety precautions – such as better masks – that could cut flu transmission.

Colleen Heinze, a labor and delivery nurse at Stony Brook University Medical Center, said she represents about 100 nurses at the hospital worried about possible vaccine side effects, especially in the new H1N1 vaccine, which she said had been less well studied.

“This is not something we take lightly,” she told the four Democratic Assembly leaders: Richard Gottfried of Manhattan, chair of the health committee; Catherine Nolan of Queens, chair of the education committee; Deborah Glick of Manhattan, chair of the higher education committee; and Rory Lancman of Queens, who heads the subcommittee on workplace safety. “We feel our rights have been violated.”

Doris Dodson, also a nurse at Stony Brook and chair of the Public Employees Federation Statewide Nurses Committee, said the union, which represents about 15,000 health care workers, has called on the state to adopt Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations that health care workers use N-95 masks, which fit more closely around the mouth and are more protective than surgical masks.

The state Health Department has said surgical masks are adequate. Birkhead said the CDC is reviewing the mask issue.

Gottfried, whose health committee has purview over the health department, said he supports the health department’s mandate. But he said it should have included health care workers in the decision-making.

“It’s always better if you talk to the affected people,” he told 150 or so at the hearing.

Lancman said he was not sure a mandate was called for.

“I want to be satisfied the state has analyzed and made a decision based on the science and not on the health commissioner’s intuition and gut instinct,” he said.

Source: Newsday

As the city gears up to give out the H1N1 vaccine to school kids across the five boroughs, health officials are doing a test run with the seasonal flu vaccine.

About 700 students will receive a free seasonal flu vaccine starting today.

Officials say they want to work out any issues before the H1N1/swine flu vaccine becomes available.

Seasonal flu vaccines will be given at: P.S. 35 Clove Valley School on Staten Island, P.S. 136 Roy Wilkins in Queens, P.S. 46 Edgar Allan Poe in the Bronx, The Children’s Workshop School in Manhattan, and P.S. 40 George Washington Carver and Saint Mark School, both in Brooklyn.

“I think it’s good because some people can’t afford a flu shot,” said one student. “If their children get sick, they would say, ‘oh, I should have gotten the flu shot, but I couldn’t afford it, so now look what happened.’”

Parental consent forms will be handed out to elementary school children in public and non-public schools in the next few weeks for the H1N1 vaccination.

“[My son] has already gotten the seasonal flu nasal spray, but I really have qualms about the H1N1 vaccine,” said one parent. “I don’t know what I’m going to do when that comes around. We haven’t had to fill out paper work for that yet.”

“We’re actually not taking part in it, but it’s great that they are offering it,” said another. “It’s really showing that the city is actually doing something to prevent this.”

“As long as it’s not made mandatory, as long as it’s left as a choice for the person, then that’s fine,” said a third.

The H1N1 vaccine will be offered free of charge to all city students, beginning later this month or early next month.

For more information on these vaccines and other flu news, go to nyc.gov/flu.

Source: NY1

With flu season officially getting underway on October 4, State Sen. Eric Adams is recommending New Yorkers take extra precautions against spreading H1N1 influenza, a.k.a. Swine Flu.

“Preventive measures are our first line of defense,” said Adams, who represents Brooklyn’s 20th Senatorial District. ”Infection prevention and control products that have proven their effectiveness include face masks, gloves, hand sanitizers, and surface disinfectants. It is essential that New York State be prepared, and our citizenry should be educated in the use of these resources.”

Best evidence suggests that the H1N1 virus is transmitted through large droplets from sneezes or coughs that travel through the air and land on surfaces. The virus can remain active for up to 24 hours.

Because the risk of transmission of the virus skyrockets with every sneeze and cough, face masks are a vital tool in fighting H1N1. Wearing a high-quality, FDA-cleared face mask that covers the mouth and nose can reduce the risk of transmitting the virus.

“Seeing someone wearing a mask can be startling. However, we know that masks provide one of the simplest, most cost-effective infection prevention tools we have in the fight against spreading the flu,” said Seth Segel, of Cantel Medical Corp.

“The more people who wear masks, the lower the risk of transmitting the disease, especially in a densely populated city like New York,” Segel said.

“I will introduce legislation in the Senate to be known as the ‘H1N1 in the workplace prevention act,’” said Adams. The bill, equivalent to NYS Assemblyman Rory I. Lancman’s A9156, will require employers to post H1N1 influenza related information.”

Source: AP

When she cleans the rooms of patients with swine flu symptoms, Jana Newton, a housekeeper at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, has to suit up for her own protection in a mask, gloves, gown and hairnet.

But she still does not want the one thing that would give her a far better defense — a flu shot.

“Some people’s immune system is good, like me,” Ms. Newton said. “I’ve been here five years and never been sick. Why mess with something that’s not broken?”

She is not alone. Across the country, federal health officials say, only about 42 percent of all health care workers get an annual flu shot. That is little better than the overall national average of 33 percent and far below the 65 to 70 percent rate for the elderly.

Source: NY Times Continue Reading This Article Here

Long Island’s Suffolk County has reported an eighth death from swine flu.

County health officials said Friday the latest victim was a law enforcement officer who lived in Brookhaven and had an underlying medical condition.

Suffolk Health Commissioner Dr. Humayun Chaudhry says the man, who was hospitalized June 17, worked outside of Suffolk County and was between the ages of 20 and 30.

Chaudhry says the man was hospitalized on June 17 where he tested positive for the H1N1 virus and was treated with anti-viral medication.

Nassau County has reported two deaths from swine flu.

Source: AP

Suffolk County has reported a seventh death from swine flu.

County health officials said Friday that the latest victim was a Town of East Hampton man between the ages of 25 and 35 who also had a serious underlying medical condition.

Suffolk Health Commissioner Dr. Humayun Chaudhry said the man died on Thursday. Authorities say the man had been admitted to the hospital on July 10 with a fever and pneumonia and later tested positive for swine flu.

Suffolk County has reported 160 confirmed cases of swine flu. Nassau County has reported two deaths from swine flu and has reported 98 confirmed cases.

Source: AP

As New York City braces for a second wave of swine flu this fall, health officials are making plans to carve space out of hospitals, clinics and other buildings to screen people before they can overwhelm emergency rooms.

Hospital and city officials said in interviews that the biggest surprise from the swine flu that swept the city last spring was the surge of visits to emergency rooms by people, especially children, sick with the flu and by a far larger number of people fearing they had it.

A major focus of planning for the fall, officials say, is to avoid being swamped by a similar, possibly bigger, demand for emergency room services. Some hospital officials are advocating putting out daily swine flu bulletins — modeled after announcements on alternate-side parking or lottery numbers — about issues like when to seek treatment.

Source: NY Times Continue Reading This Article Here