Stephen C. Shannon, DO, MPH
President
H1N1 and Osteopathic Medical Education
This year’s flu season might hold significant challenges for our members, especially the faculty, administrators, medical students, residents, and the patients and other health care providers they encounter. Therefore, AACOM is launching two initiatives to support osteopathic medical educators and those in training as they plan and make decisions through this year. The first is a new H1N1 web resource, linked from AACOM’s home page, with direct information as well as links to authoritative sources on H1N1. In addition, AACOM and the Nova Southeastern University Center for Bioterrorism and All Hazards Preparedness will host a webinar on H1N1 Planning and Preparedness on September 21, 2009, at 12:00 noon EDT. Campus teams are encouraged to participate; the webinar will address the myriad flu-related issues that COMs and our communities may be facing in the weeks ahead. Details on webinar registration and logistics will be sent out early next week.
No one knows what this year’s various circulating influenza viruses hold in store for the nation or the rest of the world. A clear antigenic shift, to Influenza A-2009 H1N1, has created a strain thought to be of greater danger for younger individuals, pregnant women and those with chronic illnesses. At the same time, other strains are circulating, and public health officials predict that these will continue to result in widespread influenza and associated illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths. Altogether, it is a complicated year for the medical and public health community’s prevention teams.
This year, (if all goes as planned) there will be two vaccines for influenza: the trivalent seasonal flu shot (currently widely available) and the flu shot targeting the 2009 H1N1 virus (likely to become available in October and potentially requiring two inoculations several weeks apart to be effective). While there is some overlap in the target populations for the two vaccines, the priority groups are somewhat different. The target population for the H1N1 vaccination include pregnant woman, people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age, persons between the ages of 6 months and 24 years old, and people 25 through 64 years of age who are a higher risk because of chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems. For the seasonal vaccine, the targeted populations are similar, but include the primary recommendation for all those over 50 years of age. The overlapping recommendations, the potential for needing three inoculations and the initial shortages and late availability of the 2009 H1N1 vaccine all will make this year particularly complex. However, health care providers (and CDC recommends medical students be classified thus) are prioritized recipients for both seasonal and 2009 H1N1 vaccines.
What does this mean for osteopathic medical education—for our colleges, the students and faculty on campus, students on clinical rotations, residents, etc.? Influenza vaccines need to become a part of every health care professional’s routine. Along with such public health measures as hand washing and appropriate isolation routines, vaccination is a principal method of protecting your patients, your family and yourself from influenza. But this year calls for worse-case scenario planning, with a seriousness of purpose that is appropriate to the threat of pandemic influenza. For the most part, each individual institution’s planning should reflect the recommendations of public health authorities at the regional, state and/or national level, and AACOM’s H1N1 web resource provides excellent sources for decision making for individuals and institutions, and is updated frequently. In addition, the many institutional and academic questions that may arise in a significant outbreak can be discussed at our upcoming webinar.
Osteopathic medical education and practice highlights prevention. We all need to take this part of our philosophy especially seriously this year.