News / Science & Technology
Flu Epidemic: a Public Health Concern. What Can Be Done?
The flu epidemic has continued to spread rapidly throughout United States and Canada, where the number of affected states has increased to 44
Washington, DC -- This past week the city of Boston declared a public health emergency as it tried to deal with an unusually harsh flu season and the state reported 18 flu-related deaths so far.
CBS News Chicago reported in Illinois that 147 people were admitted to intensive care at hospitals, and six deaths have been reported — so severe that Chicago hospitals have been turning patients who aren't in severe condition away.
In Canada, it has been reported that Influenza activity continues to rise with increases in all indicators in weeks 51 and 52, a total of 4632 laboratory detections of influenza were reported, of which 97.7% were for influenza A viruses, predominantly A(H3N2) and 127 new influenza outbreaks were reported, 87 of which were in long-term care facilities.
The CDC stated that the number of people visiting health care providers with flu-like symptoms has increased from 2.8 percent to 5.6 percent in four weeks. Lat year during the relatively mild 2011-2012 flu season the rate peaked at only 2.2 percent.
According to Dr. Joe Bresee, chief of the epidemiology and prevention branch of the CDC’s influenza division the estimated rate of flu-related hospitalizations in the U.S. was 8.1 per 100,000 people, which is high for this time of year. The flu epidemic has continued to spread rapidly throughout United States and Canada, where the number of affected states has increased to 44
“This Flu epidemic is the worst we’ve seen in many, many years,” said Dr. Rajiv Sahay, lab director at Environmental Diagnostics Laboratory (EDLab) an AIHA accredited lab and CDC ELITE lab located in Clearwater, Fl stated that he has “noticed in recent months an influx of lab samples from risk evaluations and building/home assessments. These health and hygiene based examinations of buildings and homes can be used as a precautionary measure to identify environmental concerns and development of effective treatment/prescription for the indoor environment in order to avoid the flu threat and potentially shutting down buildings.”
What is the FLU? The 'flu' commonly known as Influenza, is an infectious disease of birds mad mammals caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae the influenza virus. The most common symptoms are chills, fever, sore throat, muscle pain, headache (often severe), and coughing, weakness/fatigue and general discomfort. Flu viruses that infect humans are mainly from either the influenza A or B family. There are two subtypes of A viruses — H3N2 and H1N1.
What should homeowners and businesses do during flu season? Encouraging or arranging vaccinations on-site is one suggestion, offering hands-sanitizing products at their facilities is another way to help keep the germs at bay and employees who are sick should be encouraged to stay home.
What can I do for my home or business to be proactive? Alan Wozniak, President/CEO with Pure Air Control Services a leading indoor environmental services firm since 1986 states that “environmental cleaning and treating ones home or office with PURE-Decon treatment a Hydrogen Peroxide/silver combination seems to work best, this coupled with a green clean certified PURE-Steam coil cleaning process and hand sanitization stations provides maximum protection occupants of schools, healthcare facilities, offices, universities, homes, restaurants, physician offices, governmental buildings.”
For additional information you can contact Dr. Rajiv Sahay, Director, EDLab, Pure Air Control Services, www.pureaircontrols.com 1-800-422-7873 ext 303
About Pure Air Control Services, Inc.
Alan Wozniak founded Pure Air Control Services, Inc. in 1984 as a small mechanical contracting firm. Today, the firm sets the industry standard for indoor environmental quality diagnosis and remediation.
Pure Air Control Services nationally performed IAQ services include: Building Sciences Evaluation; Building Health Check; EDLab an AIHA accredited Environmental Microbiology Laboratory; Environmental Project Management; and HVAC Cleaning & Mold Remediation Services, PURE-Decon Treament, among other indoor environmental services.
The company’s expanding client roster includes the Northrop Grumman, FAA, Walt Disney World, General Services Administration (GSA); Allstate Insurance; CBRE, Carrier Air Conditioning; NAVFAC, DOT, USACE, US Army, and many other Fortune 500 companies, school boards, and city, state, and county governments, making Pure Air Control Services the reliable industry leader in IAQ solutions
For more information on Pure Air Control Services, Inc. please contact Cy Garner or Alan Wozniak at (800) 422-7873 ext 802 or 804 respectively, or visit www.pureaircontrols.com.
