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Melanie Cole (Host): Well every flu season is different and last year was a pretty nasty one, but here to tell us what’s going on with this year’s flu season is Taffy Creviston. She’s a senior infection preventionist at The Carle Foundation Hospital. Taffy, tell us about the current state of flu. What are we seeing this season?

Taffy Creviston (Guest): Yes, so this year we are seeing an increase in influenza A H3 again. Not as high as last year, but we are still seeing that same strain as well as influenza A H1N1 2009 strain.

Host: How bad is this flu season so far. I mean have we reached the peak yet?

Taffy: I’d like to say we have, but I don’t know that we can predict that. It is a lower peak than last year, but we are still seeing it as we go further into the season.

Host: When you’re speaking to other providers about the flu and their patients are saying well should I still get a flu shot even at this late date? What do you tell them to tell their patients.

Taffy: Yes, we absolutely do still recommend vaccination at this time due to just still seeing it in the environment. It is still the season. So influenza A we are starting to see a decline in that, but we are seeing an increase in influenza B. So, we do still push the vaccination.

Host: Last year the vaccination did not include the nasal mist, but this year it’s back. Tell us a little bit about the vaccination for this year.

Taffy: We just have better options I think for those that do not like the shot, the needle. And we wanted to push vaccinations this year due to the season we had last year. So, we were able to do the nasal mist this year which is very popular.

Host: So, what about an influx of patients needing emergency care this season. Have you seen that? Have you seen it at The Carle Foundation Hospital people coming in with the flu?

Taffy: Yes, we have seen quite a few but not any more compared to last year. It really has been a mild year.

Host: Then what’s a hospital to do, I mean even if it is a milder year for the emergency rooms, people are still going to their doctors when they get the flu and hoping to get Tamiflu and what do you want providers to know about when people are coming into their offices and what are some appropriate hospital restrictions that you advise people to use to keep the spread down?

Taffy: Yes, so we do advise them to be on the lookout for upper respiratory and making sure that we are taking precautions of masking, doing hand hygiene, and providing the antivirals when needed. We do still push the vaccination just to keep that going but for the most part, we – from the inpatient side, we do restrict visitors until the season is over, 18 and under are not allowed in until we reach below baseline for two weeks. We really push the hand hygiene, covering the cough and vaccinations.

Host: And as you’re pushing vaccination, what about for providers? Is this a recommendation that providers get vaccinated? Is it mandatory? And are they – what other kinds of protections are put in place to protect the environment and the whole environment of the hospital system?

Taffy: Right. So, we do require them to get vaccinated but there are certain exclusions. So, if that is something that the provider does not want to do, then we do have a policy in place that that provider will have to mask through the flu season to protect their patients and staff at that time. As far as what we put in, we just really push hand hygiene. I know that’s probably the biggest thing that we push to keep the spread down and then we do have our environmental services come in and clean and make sure that we are not transmitting anything throughout the hospital.

Host: You’re an infection preventionist. There’s a lot of infections people worry about at the hospital and certainly flu, not the very least among them. What’s your best advice for preventing the spread of infection whether it’s the measles outbreak or the flu or staph infections or any other hospital acquired infections?

Taffy: That’s a great question. And one of the things that obviously we will always push because it is the number one way to prevent infections is hand hygiene. We cannot stress that enough. For those vaccine related infections, we obviously are going to push the vaccinations and then we really just ask that we are gowning and gloving when needed and cleaning the environment appropriately with the appropriate disinfectants and really trying to stay ahead of everything and keeping everything clean which includes our hands.

Host: One of the things I think that pediatricians especially, but primary care providers are running into is people questioning them about the vaccines, whether they need it, whether herd immunity is going to take care of that. What do you advise other providers to tell them about sticking to that vaccination schedule, getting their flu shot, how do you advise them to counsel their patients?

Taffy: We try to have them educate the why behind why it’s so important and the risks of not doing it can outweigh the risks of doing the vaccinations or getting vaccinated. So, with the flu season, it’s important that we continue to get vaccinated every year so that we can build those antibodies up to be able to fight these viruses and as far as measles, mumps, rubella, we just – we want to keep those at bay because they really can cause harm especially in our pediatric population. So, we really just try to educate to the reasons why you should do it versus why you shouldn’t.

Host: And certainly to the population of either immunocompromised or as you say pediatric, those too young to receive those vaccines. Wrap it up for us Taffy. Tell us what you would like other providers to know about this year’s flu season, what they can expect for the rest of the season, really what you want them to know.

Taffy: Well I really just want people to understand that the flu – every year that we do have a vaccination, we don’t know how well the vaccination is going to be, how much is going to cover every year. It is a prediction. But we do ask that everybody push the vaccinations so that we have some sort of immunity going into the flu season and then really educate and watch to see what’s going on out there and when we are seeing an increase, a peak in the flu season, we really need to push the hand hygiene, push the covering of the cough throughout our own staff and patients and really understanding the why behind it all and how to protect our patients.

Host: It’s important information and thank you for coming on and updating us on this year’s flu season and what other providers can expect from the rest of the season. Thanks again Taffy. You’re listening to Expert Insights with The Carle Foundation Hospital. For a listing of Carle providers and to view Carle sponsored educational activities please visit www.carleconnect.com, that’s www.carleconnect.com. We hope the information gained will be applicable to your work and life. This is Melanie Cole.