Board of Health discusses H1N1

H1N1? That's the "swine flu" to most of us.

The McHenry County Board of Health met in a Special Meeting at 7:00PM tonight to discuss the County's activities related to what is corrected called "H1N1".

There are now 642 confirmed cases in the U.S. The nurse reported that there are 225 confirmed cases in Illinois, although the national website accessible through the CDC indicates only 122.

Today's national figures show Illinois with the highest number of confirmed cases: 122. Next are New York (97), California (67) and Texas (61). Confirmed cases have been found in 41 of the 50 States. Cases have been confirmed in 23 countries.

A key factor to controlling the outbreak is isolating the person with symptoms. In adults H1N1 is communicable for one day before symptoms appear until seven days after they appear. In cases involving children, for up to 12 days after symptoms are present.

How do you get adults to take seven days off from work if they have serious symptoms, which are listed on the County's website at www.mcdh.info (Note: the domain is ".info"!) Many workers are one day's pay or a few day's pay away from serious financial difficulties. Is an employer going to tolerate an employee's absence? Is an employer going to pay a worker who stays home, rather than risking the spread of this virus that has no cure?

And what about kids in school? Will parents who must work send their kids to school, even if they have symptoms?

The issue of mental health homes came up, too. At least in Woodstock, group homes close in the morning and do not re-open until late in the afternoon. Residents must leave during the day. What happens to the resident who presents symptoms of H1N1? How will the mental health community and the managers of group homes respond to this important health need that an affected person stay home?

I didn't see any members of the mainstream press there tonight. Did they not know about this Special Meeting?

Oh, man, oh, man. Trouble. Big trouble! I just looked at the May County Board calendar, and this Special Meeting is not on it. How did that happen? The Illinois Open Meetings Act requires notice to the media and that the Special Meeting be entered on the online Calendar. No wonder the mainstream press wasn't there.