1 in 6 health workers unlikely to respond in pandemic flu emergency and other flu news

About 1 in 6 public health workers said they would not report to work during a pandemic flu emergency regardless of its severity, according to a survey led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 

“Employee response is a critical component of preparedness planning, yet it is often overlooked. Our study is an attempt to understand the underlying factors that determine an employee’s willingness to respond in an emergency,” said Daniel Barnett, MD, MPH, lead author of the study and assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. “Overall, 16 percent of the workers surveyed said they would not report regardless of the severity of the outbreak.”

Results of the online survey of 1,835 public health workers in Minnesota, Ohio and West Virginia are published in the journal PLoS ONE. The study was funded by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Fast-track vaccine concerns Scottish General Practitioners Committee member

A senior family physician in Scotland raised concerns when he stated publicly that he is not sure he will have his own child vaccinated with the H1N1 vaccine when it becomes available this fall.

Dr. Andrew Buist, deputy chairman of the Scottish General Practitioners Committee, told the Scottish Daily Express

that he is holding back on a decision to have his child vaccinated until after the vaccine is licensed and he is reassured on its safety.

“My child’s mother and I will consider the evidence of safety when the vaccination becomes available and will make a decision based on that information,” said Buist.

Scotland has a target of immunizing 50 percent of the population by the Christmas holidays.

The position of the Scottish government was given by a spokeswoman who said: “We are preparing rigorously to ensure that the NHS is ready whenever the H1N1 vaccine arrives, but this does not necessarily mean that vaccination will commence immediately.

“No vaccine will be used without scientific and medical advice indicating it is safe to do so.”

NY Nurses Association opposes mandatory flu shots

The New York State Nurses Association came out in strong opposition to a regulation requiring every New York healthcare worker to be immunized for influenza.

The state’s Hospital Planning and Review Council passed the emergency rule on July 23.  The rule could go into effect before the start of this year’s flu season.

“While we encourage nurses to be immunized for the flu, we do not agree that nurses should be required to get immunizations as a condition of employment,” said Eileen Avery, RN, associate director of the association’s Education, Practice & Research Program.

“The seasonal flu vaccine is not 100% effective and sometimes is highly ineffective, as it was in 2005 and 2007,” Avery said. “There is no guarantee that in any given year, the public will benefit from mandatory immunization of healthcare providers.”

Canadian expert concerned about H1N1 vaccine compensation

According to Canwest News Service,

 “A leading public health expert is calling on Canada to create a no-fault compensation program for people who may be harmed by a swine flu vaccine that millions of Canadians will be urged by the government to get this fall.

“Kumanan Wilson, Canada research chair in public health at the University of Ottawa, said in an interview with Canwest News Service that children and adults could be exposed to an incompletely tested vaccine and that a compensation scheme is needed to encourage the public to buy into any mass immunization program.”

The report also said officials with the Public Health Agency of Canada said there won’t be time for an H1N1 vaccine to go through standard safety testing before immunizations begin in the fall.

Constitutional rights suspended over H1N1 prison outbreak

Can a medical emergency override the Constitution's guarantee of a speedy trial? A California judge believes so.

On July 28 California Superior Court judge Thomas Goethals ruled that that there is legal justification to keep the Central Men’s Jail in Santa Clara under medical quarantine to reduce the spread of H1N1 which has infected 25 at the men’s prison.

The Orange County Register reports

“Judge Thomas Goethals said the “significant medical public health event” in the men’s jail is good cause to temporarily suspend constitutional guarantees to speedy trials, preliminary hearings and arraignments for some criminal case defendants.”

The county public defender’s office and the alternate defender’s office had objected to the ruling.

Senate pages under quarantine for suspected H1N1 virus

Five Senate pages, believed to have contracted the H1N1 virus, have been quarantined from their peers and lawmakers as of July 28, according to Sergeant at Arms Terrance W. Gainer who made the announcement

in a memo to senators and staff.

U.S. Military might get involved in H1N1 flu outbreak

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is weighing a proposal that would establish regional military teams to help civilian authorities respond to a “significant outbreak” of the H1N1 virus this fall, according to Defense Department officials.

The proposal comes from the U.S. Northern Command and calls for military task forces that would work alongside Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) personnel.

Orders to deploy forces, which could involve all branches of the military, would be determined depending on the extent of the flu’s health threat this fall, the officials told CNN. 

Body temperature scanners installed at airports around the world to scan for viruses

See TIME photo feature.