2009 H1N1 Flu

State health officials urge all persons with mild flu-like illness to stay home. Listen to a message from Colorado Governor, Bill Ritter on the H1N1 flu and what you can do. Children and adolescents with fever should not go to day care or school. Adults with fever should not go to work until their fever has gone away for 24 hours (without use of fever reducing medicine). Individuals with severe illness, such as difficulty breathing, should contact their health care provider. Schools, businesses and other organizations are urged to plan for the flu.  To decrease chances of getting, or spreading the flu, the department recommends taking these steps to avoid the flu.

Centura Health is recommending that children under the age of 18 avoid visiting our hospitals and senior facilities. In addition, visitors of any age who are displaying flu symptoms should avoid entering our facilities (except as patients, of course).

We are taking this step as a system in order to protect the health of our staff, so that we can continue to provide the best care possible for our patients and for the people in our communities. These recommendations are consistent with what many other Colorado hospitals are implementing or are considering. “Under 18” was selected by the Chief Medical Officers as the safest age limit given the higher risk associated with children under age 18. In addition to this recommendation, some facilities have additional restrictions in the areas of OB and Neonatal ICU.

This is a rapidly evolving situation and the state health department is asking people to be alert for changes in our guidance, available from the Colorado Department of Public Health website.....

What is 2009 H1N1 (swine flu)?

2009 H1N1 (referred to as “swine flu” early on) is a new influenza virus causing illness in people. This new virus was first detected in people in the United States in April 2009. This virus is spreading from person-to-person worldwide, probably in much the same way that regular seasonal influenza viruses spread. On June 11, 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) signaled that a pandemic of 2009 H1N1 flu was underway.

Visit flu.gov, the Center for Disease Controls online resource for H1N1 Flu.

Why is 2009 H1N1 virus sometimes called "swine flu"? This virus was originally referred to as "swine flu" because laboratory testing showed that many of the genes in this new virus were very similar to influenza viruses that normally occur in pigs (swine) in North America.

But further study has shown that this new virus is very different from what normally circulates in North American pigs. It has two genes from flu viruses that normally circulate in pigs in Europe and Asia and bird (avian) genes and human genes. Scientists call this a "quadruple reassortant virus.

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