Local steps taken for swine flu

<p>As more swine flu cases continue to be reported in California and other states, Petaluma City Schools and Petaluma Valley Hospital are taking steps to deal with the situation.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>No cases have been reported in Sonoma County, but two possible cases have been identified in Marin County. This week, Carl Wong, the Sonoma County superintendent of schools, sent school districts an informational letter about swine flu that was compiled by the Sonoma County Department of Health Services. Petaluma City Schools forwarded the letter, which describes swine flu symptoms and what to do if it is identified, to all parents of students in its schools.</p><p>At PVH, isolation rooms always are available for people with respiratory ailments, and these can be used for swine flu patients.</p><p>Registered nurse Leslie Fisher, the infection-prevention manager for the Sonoma County Department of Health Services, made a special presentation about swine flu to the PVH Board of Trustees on Tuesday.</p><p>“The department of health services is as prepared as it can be to deal with the swine flu, and has notified all local providers, including Petaluma Valley Hospital,” said Daymon Doss, executive director of the Petaluma Health Care District.</p><p>The symptoms of the swine flu are a fever of more than 100 degrees, plus a cough or sore throat, runny nose, muscle aches, vomiting and diarrhea, Fisher said at the meeting, adding that everyone with these symptoms should stay home if they have had contact with someone ill or if they have traveled to an area with confirmed swine flu cases.</p><p>Precautions recommended for all residents are to wash hands often; avoid contact with eyes, nose and mouth; and cover your coughs, she said.</p><p>U.S. health officials hope to have a vaccine for the swine flu available by early May, but even if the World Health Organization ordered emergency vaccine supplies, it would take an additional two months to produce the shots needed for human safety testing. PVH has hundreds of doses available of Tamiflu, which is sometimes used when epidemics occur. </p><p>(Contact Dan Johnson at dan.johnson@arguscourier.com)</p><!-- Start of Brightcove Experience --> <script src="http://mstories.vo.llnwd.net/o1/federated/experience_util.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> <!-- var config = new Array(); config["proxyURL"] = "http://dp.storymaker-se.com/DaliDataProxy/x.aspx"; config["flashID"] = "flashObj"; config["cdnURL"] = "http://mstories.vo.llnwd.net/o1/federated/"; config["proxyStore"] = "bcmeta"; config["experienceId"] = "420d6c81-7ecf-4322-bb6c-4c56bf0713c8"; config["width"] = 600; config["height"] = 350; createExperience(config); --> </script> <!-- End of Brightcove Experience -->