I received this note from CSD yesterday…

The Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH) has developed an H1N1 hotline phone number for Georgia citizens. The H1N1 hotline phone number is 1-888-H1N1-INFO. (Please note that the 8th digit after the area code drops automatically after you punch in the other numbers.) The hotline is now operational from 8 a.m. to midnight seven days a week.

However, I wasn’t entirely sure why or when I was supposed to contact this “hotline”, so I asked for a bit more info.  Here’s the response I received from CSD’s Maria Lewis…

The Georgia Department of Community Health has provided this hotline as a resource to citizens who are interested in learning more about the H1N1 virus. Some of the information that can be found through this hotline includes ways to prevent the spread of the virus and vaccination information.

From Decatur PD’s Juanchella Francis…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are leading an investigation on the spread of influenza-like illness in the City of Decatur. The state of Georgia experienced early cases of H1N1 and they want to evaluate the extent of disease in the community. The investigation will allow them to rapidly direct public health messages to the rest of the U.S. regarding influenza.

On Thursday, September 24th, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention started surveying a random sample of households in the City of Decatur and hope to finish the investigation within 1 to 2 weeks. Eight teams of 2 people each will conduct the surveys.

This type of investigation is generally considered an emergency public health response. Therefore, no door-to-door solicitation permit is required.

I wonder if viruses spread differently in more interactive communities like Decatur and say a Gwinnett subdivision. Less interaction could be beneficial for once.  But that’s only true if your kids are home-schooled!

You won’t find this in the AJC.  A quarantined Emory student writes in and explains why he/she chose voluntary confinement…

As one of the Emory students quarantined, I would like to comment that: 1) As it was presented to me, being placed into quarantine is entirely voluntary. I chose to be quarantined because it is quite convenient to not have to walk to the cafeteria for food, and because I did not want to get my roommate sick. 2) Although H1N1 is less severe than the common flu, it has been spreading very rapidly due to a lack of immunity, and a quarantine is sensible because H1N1 actually clears up relatively quickly (3-5 days). Rather than having everybody sick at the same time, this will slow the spread of disease, hopefully long enough for the vaccine to be widely available. 3) The suggested wait time is 24 hours without a fever, not 48.