Page 2562 - Week 07 - Thursday, 18 June 2009
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These include pregnant women and those with respiratory disease, heart disease, diabetes, renal disease, morbid obesity and those whose immune systems are compromised. We will be urging people with underlying conditions to ensure that they seek medical attention if they have flu-like symptoms. These include fever with cold and/or sore throat and may also include headache, muscle or joint pain and chills. Children may also experience nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea.
Nationally, the special border protection measures that were introduced in late April will be removed, but airlines will still be reporting any passengers who are unwell. These special measures have served to delay and diminish the entry of the virus into Australia. Now that the virus has spread within Australia, these measures are now being removed.
In the ACT, the move to “protect” phase will be accompanied by a number of changes to our current approach, and we will have the flexibility to determine some responses on a case-by-case basis. In the new phase, pathology testing of all potential cases will no longer occur. However, there will be increased identification and monitoring of hospital admissions for H1N1 influenza infection and monitoring of clinical outcomes throughout the flu season. There will also be influenza testing at sentinel sites in the community to identify levels of transmission and to monitor which strains of flu are circulating. For outbreaks in closed environments such as schools, respiratory tract sampling and testing can still occur.
Under the new phase, school exclusion policies will be modified. Children who have visited Melbourne and the countries with high levels of the disease will not automatically be excluded from attending school for a period of time. However, it does remain particularly important that children who are unwell should not go to school and should stay at home until they are well. In the “protect” phase, states and territories will still have the flexibility to close single schools or classrooms following confirmation of a case, if this is considered an appropriate public health measure. This is expected to be most useful in jurisdictions with currently low levels of community transmission. Voluntary home isolation will still be recommended for people with mild disease, and people are urged to stay at home if they are unwell. Antiviral medication will no longer be provided to everyone who may have the disease and will be reserved for people who may be vulnerable to more severe outcomes.
Under the new phase, people who are healthy but are contacts of confirmed cases will generally no longer be placed in quarantine. However, measures such as this can be tailored to particular circumstances. Contact tracing will no longer be conducted to identify contacts of confirmed cases, and antiviral medication will not be given to direct contacts.
This new phase has no implications for mass gatherings, and these will continue unrestricted. However, people who are vulnerable to serious complications of influenza are urged to carefully consider their attendance at such events, where the risk of coming into contact with the infection will be increased. People who are concerned about flu-like symptoms will still be able to be referred to the ACT’s influenza assessment centres. These centres are expected to remain open throughout the current flu season. Additional information about what the “protect” phase means will be available on the ACT Health website within the next few days.
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