In July, we talked about a contest being sponsored by the US Department of Health and Human Services, asking for submissions for a TV Public Service Announcement related to the H1N1 flu. Over 200 nationwide entries were submitted. Now, this is your chance to vote on the winner from the ten finalists selected. Take a look here. Vote on your choice, then stop back here, and tell us what you think of these entries!
Have a healthy return to campus!
Roger Miller, MD for BuckMD
Thanks to our Ohio State University Office of Student Life – Inspire USA online film competition earlier this year, Ohio State students have already shown the world their creativity and commitment to making the world a healthier and safter place. In the process, they won some great financial awards that they have used to support more academic and creative endeavors.
Well, thanks to a new contest being sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services, Buckeyes are getting another chance to show what they can do. Not only will the person who posts the winning short online video about flu safety to YouTube win $2500, they will appear on national TV! You can learn more about the contest here and by watching this brief video. Good luck and Go Bucks!!
Dr. Roger Miller, our Senior Manager of Preventive and Complementary Care here at Ohio State Student Health Services, discussed campus preparedness for H1N1 (“Swine”) flu in the fall with Dr. Nancy Synderman today on the “Dr. Nancy” show on MSNBC. Dr. Miller and the Student Health Services team of providers, nurses, and support staff have been spearheading these efforts on our campus and this national recognition is a testament to their success.
You can watch the interview here.
Go Bucks!
Ok, BuckMD here again, and using a catchy, cryptic title to see if people are still blogging during the summer months! What is “No Ham on Reye” all about?
The H1N1 influenza is a newly mutated virus composed of strains from pigs, birds and humans. Technically, it is not Swine Flu, since there are specific types of influenza that occur in pigs. You will have to blog with a veterinarian to find out more about pigs with runny noses and fever, but I understand this does happen.
Anyway, I am still seeing some references to this outbreak using “Swine Flu” as the name, rather than the more scientifically based “Novel Influenza A (H1N1) type” title used by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). So, I am being liberal in using Ham as a swine metaphor, but it just looked better than “Novel Influenza A (H1N1) type on Reye”.
The Reye part refers to Reye’s Syndrome, which is a rare but serious nervous system disorder associated with certain viral infections and the use of aspirin and other products containing medicines known as salicylic acid or salicylates. These compounds, which are used in lots of medicines found in the drug aisle, are generally used to treat pain and fever. In the 1980’s, we found that, rarely, children treated with salicylates developed confusion and delirium when these medicines were given for viral illnesses like influenza. A few of these children fell into comas and died. A tragic end for what started with a short-term illness. There have also been a few cases of Reye’s syndrome in adults.
Since then, most children’s cold and flu medicines have taken salicylates out of their formulas (formulae, for the Latin scholars out there), and use acetaminophen or ibuprofen for pain and fever busting.
My point – with more flu in the community, it is wise to avoid using salicylate-containing products to treat your symptoms. Read the ingredients on the products in your medicine cabinet before you take them for your next fever or cold symptom. For more information, check out the National Reye’s Syndrome Foundation website.
Roger Miller, MD, for BuckMD
Q: Can someone be a carrier of swine flu if they just got back from Mexico even though they don’t have swine flu?
A: This is a great question, but unfortunately it’s a hard one to answer with much certainty. This is such a new virus that we are still learning about all of its various properties. However, using the common influenza viruses that we see every year as the closest comparison we currently have, we do not typically see carriers, which are people harboring the virus and not getting sick from it. So our most educated guess at this time is that if you don’t have any symptoms, you are unlikely to have the infection. Obviously, if you’ve been exposed to someone with the illess, or have recently been to a place where it is currently active, be sure to seek prompt medical attention if any symptoms develop.
For the most up-to-date information on the H1N1 (swine flu) outbreak, see stay tuned to the OSU Emergency Management web page and the CDC Swine Flu page.
-BuckMD
Student Health Services is working in cooperation with our campus colleagues and the Medical Center in responding to the Swine Flu alert. Students who are ill and have had contact with a case of swine flu or have traveled to one of the outbreak areas should isolate themselves and practice careful hand and cough hygiene until they are better. If you need to leave your residence, you should wear a mask. If you are coming in to Student Health for assessment, please follow the posted instructions at the entrance, for your safety and the safety of all our patients.
For updated campus, state, and national information, visit http://busfin.osu.edu/emergency/emerInfo.aspx, OSU Emergency Management web site.