School Nurses Identified as H1N1 Vaccine Priority Group
School nurses and nurse practitioners have been identified by the State Department of Public Health (DPH) as a priority group to be vaccinated in the early rounds of Connecticut’s H1N1 Influenza vaccine campaign. School nurses and nurse practitioners are involved in both public health activities and care of [...]

Seasonal Flu vaccinations will be resuming in the schools for grades K thru 5, for students for whom parents signed written consents. Therefore, PLEASE contact your school nurse, if you have had your child vaccinated elsewhere (even if it was at the Health Department).
As you may recall, we had to put the Seasonal Flu vaccination [...]

Table of Contents
Introduction
I. Purpose
II. Background of H1N1
III. Local Resources
IV. Glossary of Terms
Community Mitigation: Non Pharmaceutical Interventions
V. Social Distancing
VI. Closing Schools
VII. Monitoring Illness in Schools
VIII. At Risk Students
IX. Exclusion Policies
X. Education
XI. Mitigating Interventions to Decrease the Spread of Infectious Agents
XII. Isolation
XIII. Cleaning and Disinfecting Surfaces
Community Mitigation: Vaccination in a School Setting
XIV. Organizing a School Sponsored Vaccination [...]

People who get Influenza A(H1N1) will be treated with anti-viral drugs.
Anti-viral drugs are not a cure, but they may help you to recover if taken within 48 hours of symptoms developing, by:
• Relieving some of the symptoms
• Reducing the length of time you are ill by around one day
• Reducing the potential for serious complications, such as pneumonia.
This [...]

Get the facts. Gather information that will help you accurately determine your risk so that you can take reasonable precautions. Find a credible source you can trust such as news from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (http://cdc.gov/H1N1flu/), a local or state public health agency, or local elected official such as a state governor. This [...]

What is “Swine” flu? Swine Influenza (swine fl u) is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza viruses that causes regular outbreaks in pigs. People do not normally get swine flu, but human infections can and do happen. Swine fl u viruses have been reported to spread from person-to-person, but in the [...]

Prevent the spread of H1N1 (Swine Flu)
The novel H1N1 (Swine flu) virus is causing illness in the United States and around the world. Experts expect it to continue to spread. Much has been learned, but we continue to learn more every day.
The symptoms of this new H1N1 (Swine flu) virus are similar to symptoms of [...]

A whole country or group of people may be singled out as the source of the problem rather than the germ. Right now, Mexico and, more broadly, Spanish-speaking people are seen by some as the “cause” of 2009 H1N1 (“swine flu”).
Preventing stigma is not simply altruistic; it is “enlightened self-interest.” Historically, people in scapegoat groups [...]

The symptoms of swine flu in people are similar to the symptoms of regular human flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue, and, in some cases people have reported diarrhea and nausea. Like seasonal flu, swine flu may cause a worsening of underlying chronic medical conditions.
Swine influenza (swine flu) [...]

A vaccine against the newly emerging strain of H1N1 could stop or slow its spread, and thus reduce its impact on health services, workplaces, schools and the economy. Since this virus differs markedly from previous strains of H1N1, existing flu vaccines will not work against it and a new vaccine needs to be developed.
Several different [...]