Published: June 24, 2009 08:57 pm      

Officials look at H1N1 virus plans

DANVILLE — The numbers stand as a reminder of how close to home the H1N1 virus can hit in Vermilion County.

A medium-level pandemic that affects 15-35 percent of the U.S. population would result as many as 29,400 cases, 2,500 hospitalizations and an estimated 600 deaths, based on the county’s 2000 census figures.

Those numbers were provided by the Vermilion County Health Department during a meeting Wednesday afternoon as well as a litany of additional data intended to provide community leaders with a better understanding of the virus, which is also dubbed swine flu.

Representatives from a number of agencies attended, ranging from Provena United Samaritans Medical Center, Carle Clinic and Hoopeston Regional Health Center to Danville District 118 schools, Westville police and Danville Housing Authority.

County health department administrator Steve Laker said the virus, which emerged earlier this year, gives local officials a lot of things to consider.

“I challenge you all to think about the impact on your individual areas,” he told the group of more than 25 people.

Following historical evidence from past pandemics, the health department is preparing for a wider outbreak of the H1N1 disease during the fall flu season this year.

Dave Stone, regional director of emergency operations for Provena, said the hospitals have been working on contingency plans for situations such as a pandemic for a number of years, running to drills to work out any problems in the process.

“I can tell you we’re better prepared than we have been in the past,” he told the group.

Dee Ann Ryan, head of the county’s mental health board, said a program is already in place to have an additional 35 people trained and ready to assist in such situations.

Going through a slide show presentation, Laker talked about the needs for vaccine delivery as well as shut downs of several areas, such as the courthouse, city bus service, factories and schools.

“Kids are incubators for disease,” Laker said.

He added a school shutdown to slow down the virus could be a moot point if all the kids then end up at the mall. Laker said court proceedings are only expected to be canceled under “dire” circumstances, after speaking to Judge Claudia Anderson.

The World Health Organization raised the alert level to Phase 6 on June 11, indicating that a global pandemic is underway. Seventy-six countries had reported more than 52,000 H1N1 cases with 231 deaths as of mid-June.

In Illinois, 2,509 cases and 12 deaths have been confirmed.

Laker said another meeting among community officials would be held in about a month.