Brock battles H1N1 as flu season rolls in
Geoffrey Blain
Issue date: 11/10/09 Section: Health
Other parts of Ontario have not been so lucky. Dr. Isra Levy, Canada's chief medical officer, has said that there is a very real possibility that clinics across the country will be forced to close for up to 10 days as current inventories dwindle and shipments of the vaccine come to a halt.
"The problem is the province hasn't heard from the federal government when the flow [of vaccine] will be turned on again, so we can't ask the province for it," Levy told reporters. "We rarely know more than a day or two ahead of time."
The Brock community has not been immune from H1N1. According to Grant, the number of students coming into the clinic is "above average". In fact, Health Services has been so busy over the past few weeks that Grant has been forced to make himself available during periods regularly scheduled as administration hours simply to keep up with the steady inflow of patients.
However Grant says it isn't all bad news for Brock.
"Looking at the 'Got Flu' tracking system the university has, I am cautiously optimistic that our numbers may have peaked last week - the next few days will tell," Grant said. "That's not to say that we have seen a big decline and we are out of the woods but the numbers on a week by week basis over the last couple of days seem to be coming down a little bit and that seems to jive with what I'm hearing from other doctors in the community.
It is my hope that we may have actually peaked last week."
If you are part of a priority group and have not yet received the H1N1 vaccination, a flu-shot clinic is being held at the Niagara Region Headquarters building at 2201 St. David's Road from Nov. 10-13, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
"The problem is the province hasn't heard from the federal government when the flow [of vaccine] will be turned on again, so we can't ask the province for it," Levy told reporters. "We rarely know more than a day or two ahead of time."
The Brock community has not been immune from H1N1. According to Grant, the number of students coming into the clinic is "above average". In fact, Health Services has been so busy over the past few weeks that Grant has been forced to make himself available during periods regularly scheduled as administration hours simply to keep up with the steady inflow of patients.
However Grant says it isn't all bad news for Brock.
"Looking at the 'Got Flu' tracking system the university has, I am cautiously optimistic that our numbers may have peaked last week - the next few days will tell," Grant said. "That's not to say that we have seen a big decline and we are out of the woods but the numbers on a week by week basis over the last couple of days seem to be coming down a little bit and that seems to jive with what I'm hearing from other doctors in the community.
It is my hope that we may have actually peaked last week."
If you are part of a priority group and have not yet received the H1N1 vaccination, a flu-shot clinic is being held at the Niagara Region Headquarters building at 2201 St. David's Road from Nov. 10-13, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Richard Osadak
posted 11/10/09 @ 10:21 PM EST
The medical officers and directors,from their comments, appear very focused at following the virus.
How they identify, isolate and photograph the H1N1 is amazing. (Continued…)
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