Shipments of antiviral medication are en route to Vermont as health officials here brace for the potential arrival of an influenza strain responsible for scores of deaths in Mexico.

No one in Vermont or New England has come down with swine flu, but American citizens living as nearby as New York City have been diagnosed with the illness. The 20 cases reported thus far in the U.S. have not been nearly as severe as those in Mexico City, and state and federal epidemiologists are still unsure exactly how serious a public health threat the virus poses.

The Vermont Health Department is urging the state’s health care providers, schools and others to watch for cases of swine influenza.

“I will not be surprised if we do see some cases in Vermont,” said Dr. Wendy Davis, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Health. “We’re taking it very seriously, but I want to emphasize that at this time there are no cases of swine flu in Vermont.”

Davis says it’s unclear still if the novel flu strain will prove any more or less harmful than the common illnesses suffered by Vermonters during standard flu seasons.
“The disease in the U.S. to date has been characterized as relatively mild, and that is in contrast to Mexico where they’ve seen a more serious disease,” Davis says.
The Centers for Disease Control has labeled the worldwide outbreak a public-health emergency. The federal agency has shipped doses of the antiviral drug Tamiflu, as well as facemasks, to Vermont. The medicine, slated to arrive this week, will bolster reserves of antiviral medications already on hand in Vermont. The CDC is exercising the same precautionary measures in all 50 states.

“They proactively reached out to all of the states to say they were ready to release some of what they have in hand,” Davis says.

Above all else, health officials are urging sound prophylactic practices. Frequent hand washing and good hygiene, officials say, are the most important things Vermonters can do to keep from contracting or transmitting the flu strain.

Covering your face when you sneeze or cough, and keeping a three-foot distance between yourself and others also can minimize risks. Residents with questions about the flu advisory can visit the Vermont Department of Health Web site or call the state’s 211 information hotline.

People exhibiting flu symptoms, and who have recently traveled to areas affected by the outbreak (including Mexico, New York City, Kansas, California, Ohio, Texas) are urged to visit their local hospital immediately for testing.

For more on this story, see Tuesday’s Times Argus and Rutland Herald.