April 28, 2009

"We are concerned, given that the population we serve is largely from Mexico, that unwarranted fear of Mexican migrants in many communities will result in their being targeted or marginalized," said Edward Zuroweste, MD, Chief Medical Officer of the Migrant Clinicians Network. "We wanted to reiterate that unless the migrant traveled to Mexico within the recent past, their risk of transmitting swine flu is minimal and they are at equal risk to the standing population for contracting the disease."

The announcement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the elevation of the pandemic alert level to Phase 4 is a step taken in order to mobilize resources rather than to indicate a direct corollary to individual risk. As noted in an April 26th press conference the United States declared a public health emergency, which "allows us to free up federal, state and local agencies and their resources for prevention and mitigation," Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said. Flu cases in the United States so far have been mild.

The CDC is the main source of all information on the swine flu. Clinicians are reminded that reasonable risk assessment should be employed for individuals presenting with symptoms and sound infection control strategies must remain in place. To keep up to date visit the CDC website http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/index.htm..

The Migrant Clinicians Network wants to reiterate the importance of caring for all of our patients regardless of the country of origin and encourage all clinicians to maintain our commitment to this vulnerable population.

Where to get the latest updates on 2009 H1N1 Influenza:

• CDC’s main H1N1 webpage www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu

• Latest information from CDC www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/whatsnew.htm

• Guidance for clinicians www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/guidance

• H1N1 influenza vaccination resources www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination

• General information for the public www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/general_info.htm

• Subscribe to CDC’s email updates www.cdc.gov/emailupdates/index.html

AAFP American Family Physician

To help you respond to the current H1N1 flu outbreak and other infectious disease challenges your practice will face in the future, the AAFP journals are publishing three new articles online, prior to print publication.

The following articles are available free and in full text online; they will be printed in future issues of the journals:

American Family Physician

• Basic Rules of Influenza: How to Combat the H1N1 Influenza (Swine Flu) Virus
• Telephone Triage of Patients with Influenza

  By Jonathan L. Temte, MD, PhD, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin; AAFP Liaison to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices

Family Practice Management

• Preparing Your Office for an Infectious Disease Epidemic

  By Charles W. Mackett III, MD, associate professor and executive vice chairman of the Department of Family Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pa.

H1N1 Patient Education Resource

We encourage everyone to review our patient education materials related to the flu. Included are resource about covering your mouth when coughing, the importance of washing our hands, simple things patients can do to protect themselves and their families, and the effects of stigmatization as a result of the swine flu, how to prevent stigmatization, and how to confront stigmatization when it arises, plus more.