Monthly Archives: February 2018

WORKING TO KEEP THE FLU OUT OF YOUR WORK

One of the major news stories nationally and internationally early on in 2018 has been the alarming numbers associated with the current flu season.  While this is technically not a pandemic, it is still a serious situation with alarming statistics. Pandemics occur when a new strain occurs to which people have not experienced previous exposure. That is not the case in this 2017-2018 flu season, as we have seen the prevalent flu strains before, but that does not diminish the seriousness of this situation.

All across the country, medical facilities are being overwhelmed with flu cases. In places such as California, Pennsylvania, and Texas, hospitals have needed to set up temporary triage and treatment tents at medical facilities to handle the overflow of patients and alleviate overcrowding in the pre-existing structures.

There is more than just one strain of the flu virus. There are numerous sub types of flu strains. Medical professionals state there are currently 18 Hemagglutinin and 11 Neuraminidase strains in the Type A category. Type B consists of the Victoria and Yamagata strains. Type C strains are typically mild respiratory illnesses and Type D typically refers to flu viruses in cattle.

In recent years, the H1N1 strain has been most prevalent in the United States and flu vaccines have targeted it the most. The H1N1 strain was responsible for the Swine Flu outbreak of 2009. There had been little exposure to the H3N2 strain among Americans until this season. This is a strain that was common in recent years in Great Britain and Australia. When the same flu strain strikes repeatedly, people and their regions tend to build up their immunity.

The almost daily media coverage of this flu season is typically accompanied by the standard follow-up stories on what individuals can do to diminish their chances of contracting the flu. Those news packages contain very useful information that we all must follow. However, what the news media does not often report is what can maintenance personnel do to decrease the likelihood of their facility becoming a breeding ground for the virus. Individual advice is usually concluded with the advice that if you feel sick, to stay home. That is valuable advice to prevent people from transporting the virus into a facility, but in our industry we need to look at what we can do on a large scale to make our facilities as clean and healthy as possible for those who enter.

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