Influenza update - Wairarapa

5 August 2010

Influenza update - Wairarapa

The outbreak of influenza in the Wairarapa continues to spread, if school absenteeism rates are a measure. 18 of the 40 schools or training facilities now have 15% or more of their students off sick, up from 7 on Tuesday. The worst affected school has 53% of students absent, with a total of 1204 students absent across the region on Thursday.

The DHB has activated their pandemic response plan, to manage the event and the flow of information.

“Most of the activity at present is related to ensuring people know how to look after themselves in the community,” says Incident Controller Simon Everitt. “We have provided information to all schools and early childhood centres, and are working closely Regional Public health, medical centres and pharmacies to make sure they have the information they need. At the same time, we are making plans for the coming weeks to cope with a range of scenarios, from low impact through to major impact. Those plans include preparing to defer some non-urgent surgery if required, and working with other providers to transfer recuperating patients, should the need arise, to free up beds for people suffering complications from influenza. We are also offering vaccinations to all staff who have not already been vaccinated, starting with frontline and ambulance staff.”

People experiencing flu-like symptoms are advised to seek advice from Healthline on 0800 611 116, rather than sit in medical centre waiting rooms.

“This is a basic health precaution – advice can be received quickly, without putting others waiting at risk,” says Simon. “Other simple advice includes washing hands frequently, covering coughs and sneezes, and staying home if unwell until 48 hours after you are symptom free. Seeking medical help is important if you have fevers of 40 degrees or more that won’t go down with panadol, your condition worsens, you go bluish around the lips or cheeks, get chestpain, have persistent diarrhoea or vomiting, have trouble breathing, become confused or develop a rash. ”

There is excellent information on influenza available on the Ministry of health website mohnz.govt.nz.

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