N.B. braces for swine flu season

New Brunswickers have been hearing a lot about influenzain recent months bothseasonal flu andswine flu. The sheer volume of information can sometimes be confusing.

Swine flu is expected to hit New Brunswick during the seasonal flu season, in October, affecting anestimated 30 per cent of the population.

Health officials believe the swine flu, or H1N1, virus is spread the same way as seasonal influenza, as germs enter the nose and/or throat through the air via coughing and sneezing, or through direct contact with contaminated hands and surfaces.

Symptoms are also similar to those ofseasonal flu, including fever and cough and one or more of the following: sore throat, body aches and fatigue. Some people have also reporteddiarrhea and vomiting.

New Brunswick's influenza information line: 1-800-580-0038

Becausethe swine flu virus is new,people will likely have little or no natural immunity. That means it could spread more quickly and affect more people.

Most people will probably have only a mild case, according to health officials. But even healthy people can develop serious complications.

The peopleconsidered at greater risk include:

• Children under the age of five.
• Women in the late stages of pregnancy.
• First Nations people.
• Anyone with medical conditions, such as diabetes, lung disease, kidney disease, cancer, or conditions that suppress the immune system.

Diagnosis ofswine flu can be confirmed through a health-care provider taking a nasal swab and sending it to the pandemic lab at the Dr. Georges L. Dumont Regional Hospital in Moncton, N.B.

Anyone who has the swine flu should be considered contagious for up to seven days after the beginning ofthe illness. People with the following symptoms should seek emergency medical attention:

In children:

• Fast breathing or trouble breathing.
• Bluish skin colour.
• Not drinking enough fluids.
• Not waking up or not interacting.
• Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held.
• Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough.
• Fever with a rash.

In adults:

• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath.
• Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen.
• Sudden dizziness.
• Confusion.
• Severe or persistent vomiting.

Precautions you can take include regular hand washing with soap for at least 20 seconds, keeping surfaces disinfected and staying home if you're sick.

Vaccination programs

Vaccination clinics willbe set up throughout New Brunswick, and the government has ordered 1.1 million doses of vaccine for the province's 750,000 people.

But the vaccine likely won't be available until late November after the swine flu is expected to hit.

The vaccine will be given to medical personnel and those who are most vulnerable first. There will also be mass inoculations at schools across the province.

Schools willlikely be used to set up clinics for the rest of the population because doctors' offices may not beable to handle the demand.

The province also plans to add more staff, such as retired nurses, to help invaccination clinics.

New Brunswick will also push ahead with a seasonal flu vaccination program, even though some recent research suggests the people who received the seasonal flu shot in the past two years could be at greater risk of gettingswine flu.

Provincial health officials say the research is preliminary and doesn't backsimilar studies.

Seasonal flu shots will be available, starting Oct. 1 earlier than usual to avoid any public confusion between the two vaccination programs.

Meanwhile, some other provinces are considering shortening, delaying or scrapping their seasonal flu vaccination programs in favour of mass inoculation againstswine flu.

The New Brunswick Department of Health has been stockpiling supplies, such as personal protective equipment, antiviral medications and immunization supplies.

New Brunswick's comprehensive pandemic response plan is expected to be made public in coming weeks on the government's special website, www.gnb.ca/flu.