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!

Jennifer writes in…

Emory is looking for more kids between the ages of 6 and 36 months for participation in the Swine Flu Vaccine Study. If interested more information can be obtained by calling 404-727-4044.

The study began back in late August, but I guess few parents are enthused about putting their kids, especially infants and toddlers, under the needle for a flu shot trial.

I’m not sure I’d ever be comfortable with volunteering my child (if I had one!) to participate in something like this, even if the risk was low.  Would you ever be willing to enroll your infant in a flu trial?  How bad how the outbreak have to be for you to consider it?

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.

From this morning’s AJC…

Emory University has moved about 50 students with swine flu into a separate dorm, where they are not attending classes and school workers are delivering food to them, officials said.

“The idea is to keep them separate from the other students while they recover,” Emory spokesman Ron Sauder said.

That dorm on the Druid Hills campus had been left open at the beginning of the school year.

This note from Superintendent Phyllis Edwards was distributed to parents and interested non-parents yesterday evening.

In related news, Emory’s H1N1 vaccine trials on children started yesterday.

Dear Parents/Guardians:

As you may know flu-like illness is circulating in our region and community. We are beginning to see students with flu like illness in all the schools. The illnesses are generally mild with symptoms lasting only a few days. Please know that we will inform you of any significant increase in numbers of absences related to flu like illness or any clustering of illness. We will not, however, inform you of each incidence of illness that shows up in a school.

We are working closely with the DeKalb County Board of Health and following the guidelines from the CDC to monitor flu conditions and make decisions about the next steps to take concerning schools. We will keep you updated with new information as it becomes available.

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It’s pretty obvious that the H1N1 virus – more ominously known as the “swine flu” – has been on the minds of many Decatur parents for the last couple weeks as their kids have headed back into the classroom.

This may sound like a generic opening line to a story, but it’s true.

Never before have I received so many unsolicited emails asking me to find out what specific policies Decatur’s school system will implement to mitigate the threat of the H1N1 virus.

And within 12 hours of inquiring, I received a response.  Associate Thomas Van Soelen supplied this list of actions and policies that CSD has put in place to help lower the risk of a flu outbreak.

We are engaging in the following:

1. Staying in close contact with the DeKalb County Board of Health and following their guidelines

2. Will follow the guidelines put out by the CDC on Friday for school exclusion. CDC recommends that people with flu like symptoms remain at home until at least 24 hours after they are fever free (100 degrees) or signs of a fever without the use of fever-reducing medications.

3. We are offering information to parents about prevention methods such as thorough and frequent handwashing, covering mouth when coughing or sneezing, and staying home when sick in school newsletters. This will also be on the website.

4. We will be implementing additional routine cleaning for high touch areas like computer keyboards and auxiliary equipment, door handles, sink handles, etc.

5. We are putting up signage in schools reminding about prevention methods

6. We will be tracking influenza like illnesses and following up as necessary in each school

7. We (in conjunction with DeKalb Board of Health) will be offering seasonal flu vaccine at 2 school sites probably in October for students (with parental permission), and staff as we have done in the past. We have no definite information about the H1N1 vaccine as yet. We are watching just like everyone else.