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Swine Flu
Letter from Dr. Bermingham, Highline President
September 18, 2009
Last spring, I promised to keep you informed of Highline’s response to the arrival of the H1N1 virus (Swine Flu) on our campus. Public health officials advise that it is likely that the flu pandemic will return this winter. We are taking steps designed to minimize the spread of the H1N1 and seasonal flu viruses on campus. Also, we continue to develop strategies that would allow us to maintain the College’s learning environment for students.
Last month, the College’s Emergency Response Team along with representatives of the Seattle-King County Public Health Department conducted a planning exercise to identify actions needed to assure continuity of the College’s operations during the epidemic. Among other measures, the faculty and staff are taking the following actions:
- Information encouraging personal hygiene measures that each of us can take to reduce the risk of becoming infected will be widely available.
- Faculty are preparing alternative ways to continue classes when students and faculty are affected by the flu.
- Limited supplies of hand sanitizer will be available in selected areas of the campus where there is a high volume of activity and hand washing is inconvenient. Examples of such locations are computer laboratories and the Library.
- Hyperlinks on the College’s website
http://www.highline.edu/home/messages/flu.htm will connect with authoritative public health web pages to provide the most current information about the H1N1 virus and appropriate countermeasures.
www.cdc.gov/H1N1FLU/
Each of us, however, bears the primary responsibility to prevent the spread of the flu. You can meet your responsibility by doing the following:
- Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
- Stay home if you get sick. CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.
The H1N1 influenza vaccine is not available yet, but it will likely be available in mid-October. Seasonal flu vaccine is available now at many providers. You should consult your physician about these options.
www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/
We can mitigate some of the impact of a health emergency if we all do our part.
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