Monday, 24 August 2009

H1N1 (Swine flu)

Here it comes, ready or not

The first concrete mention of swine flu and Conductive Education came at the end of July, from parent-blogger Lightnur, from Australia. In the event, the question of flu was buried in the everyday tasks and indignity of living, though Lightnur did take her daughter home from school.

In the Northern Hemisphere the schools’ summer holidays mean that the expected wave of infection will likely be with us soon, when school is back. In the meantime, in the United Kingdom at least, the summer holidays have allowed the whole matter to drift out of the public mind

September, October, November…

What swine flu might mean over the coming months may be something that CE centres and programs have been actively considering. Then again, it may not.

The following might be of interest for those just starting out on this:

There is plenty more to read about H1N1!

‘Other health problems’

In the UK, before the summer, some national comfort had been drawn (or was that encouraged?) by the fact that the deaths so far has been in those with ‘with other health problems’, for example:

Here are some other health problems:

  • cerebral palsy
  • Parkinson’ disease
  • multiple sclerosis
  • the effects of stroke
What specific advice can you find for the guidance and reassurance of families, service-users and staff?

Scaremongering?

Who knows? We shall all be very wise after the act, however things turn out.

Due prudence

In the meantime, it seems at least prudent to have given some possible scenarios serious consideration.

Maybe some or even most Conductive Education services and programs have already considered the possibilities and what they will be doing in response, what advice they will be giving families and staff, what might be the knock-on effects upon income etc.

Perhaps some have not.

Do share

It would be nice if those who have prepared contingencies for HiN1 could publish what they are doing on their websites, for the benefit of the others.

Posted by at 09:27
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1 comments:

  1. A few weeks ago all the staff at the Verein here in Nürnberg were sent guidelines for how to avoid the spread of "Schweine-Influenza". I am unsure of the origins of the mail but I do not think it was something produced internally I think it was more likely something from the city’s health department. These were probably quidelines sent to all centres working with disabled children and adults.

    Apart from general hygiene advice we were told which people working in the social services would be first on the list for anti-flu jabs.

    More recently we have received guidelines for children from the social services department of a neighbouring town, Erlangen.

    These guidelines are to be distributed to the parents of children in schools and kindergartens. They can be found on the website of the Robert-Koch-Institute, www.rki.de

    I spoke to a fifteen year old girl last week in northern Germany and she told me that they had received similar handouts at school explaining how to dispose of once used tissue hankerchiefs, how often to wash their hands and even how they should sneeze. She said that the pupils at her school were taking some notice and some teachers were also trying to follow the suggestions, but she thought that this high state of awareness will not continue for long.

    Our guidelines for parents begin with a very welcome sentence as far as I am concerned. The paper states that:

    "The suggestions below are not only very useful to follow in the case of a pandemic due to the new form of illness (Schweine-Influenza), but also for ordinary flus and colds, which spread in exactly the same way.“

    I hope some parents who are apt to send their children to us with dripping noses, coughs and sniffles take note and start to think about whether this really is a good idea or not.

    Maybe they will stop to consider if it would not be better to be a bit more considerate towards the rest of us, children and staff, by keeping their ill children at home for a day or two.
    With always half a dozen ill children attending the Kindergarten throughout the winter eventually all the staff become infected and the Kindergarten has to be closed for several days!

    Our guidelines for Schweine flu tell the parents what symptoms to look out for. As far as I can see they are no different to the symptoms of other forms of flu.

    They state the means by which the infection can spread, the hands being the main means of tranfering the virus from one person to another.
    So high on the list of how to care for „patients“ at home, comes lots of washing of hands.

    The guidelines recommend the yearly flu jab at sometime in the autumn, but this is not available for children who have never been infected with influenza viruses, and children under a certain age.
    Apparently in the case of a pandemic the appropriate flu jab, if available can be given at a different time.

    We have received no specific guidelines for children with disabilities. These guidelines that we have recommend immediate consultation with doctors as soon as the first symptoms appear which in the case of children or adults with disabilities will hopefully be enough to prevent complications.

    The last paragraph is written in bold lettering and is placed in a coloured box so hopefully the parents will understand its importance.

    "Important: when your child is ill: keep your child at home and call the doctor if the child shows any of the symptoms that indicate influenza"

    It goes on to list the symptoms for a second time and says to keep the child at home until clear of all symptoms.

    Let us hope for the sake of the health of us all, but especially that of our integrated children with disabilities, that the parents take heed.
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