By Luke Whyte
In the workshop “Managing Seasonal Influenza in the Correctional Setting”, at this year’s ACA Summer Conference. Dr. Newton E. Kendig – Medical Director for the Health Services Division of the FBOP – emphasized taking any and all steps possible to prevent the H1N1 virus from entering the correctional setting.
Sometimes, however, even the best prevention strategy simply isn’t enough.
What follows is the FBOP’s quarantine strategy for dealing with an H1N1 (or any type of serious influenza) outbreak after disaster starts to strike:
Phase I: The Isolation Strategy
This is for when an institution has very few reported cases.
“The goal at this point is to prevent transmission into the facility,” Kendig said.
An aggressive screening process should be implemented for all incoming inmates and all inmates previously in contact with the infected inmates. Isolate the victims and remain on high alert.
Phase II: The Quarantine Strategy
This is for when an institution has multiple influenza suspects, usually all in one area or group of friends.
Staff should quarantine the infected housing unit and stop all transfers of quarantined inmates, monitoring and isolating the unit until the outbreak is under control.
Phase III: The Contaminant Strategy
At this point, there is no official quarantine, “basically the whole institution is quarantined,” Kendig said.
Hydration of all staff and inmates is critical. Isolate symptomatic inmates.
This is the (only) time to use antiviral medicines like Tamiflu to staff, simply to keep the facility operating at a safe level.
Plan and breathe
“Expect that a number of staff and inmates will have serious complications with influenza,” Kendig said, “even with relatively mild strains.”
Plan ahead, relax and think.