ARCHIVED INFORMATION
H1N1 cases and deaths have decreased, and most indicators show that influenza activity on the whole is down to normal levels for mid-spring. The latest estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show about 130 million Americans - almost half the entire U.S. population - have been estimated to have either been infected with H1N1 or been vaccinated.
The monovalent H1N1 vaccine is safe, effective, and the best way to be protected from H1N1 influenza. Nurses should be vaccinated to protect themselves, their families, their patients, and their communities.
Vaccine is still available in many places, however emphasis now will be on the influenza vaccine campaigns for the 2010-11 influenza season that begins in September. The H1N1 strain will be a part of the trivalent seasonal influenza vaccine that nurses are urged to get every year.
All nurses - in any position of authority and any workplace - should advocate for and help develop a comprehensive plan for pandemic flu, know their role in those plans, and if interested in becoming a volunteer responder, should register now with an organized emergency response system.
ANA is working for nurses from the national perspective to ensure they are fully educated on the public health and medical implications and interventions. But ANA is also monitoring issues affecting nurses on the job, such as adequate protective equipment, available vaccines, surge capacity and ethical concerns, and reporting and sharing this with our national organization and government partners. ANA needs to hear from nurses on what will make their jobs easier, and how patients can be better served during the pandemic.
On this website, the ANA has consolidated some of the most pertinent information for nurses, including CDC's clinical guidance. Unless otherwise specified, all clinical guidance and recommendations are from the CDC.
See the Inside menu at the top of the column to the left for more about the 2009 H1N1 Pandemic. 
No comments:
Post a Comment