Swine Flu - Online Discussion : Hospital Information http://www.swineflu.org This is an XML content feed of; Swine Flu - Online Discussion : Hospital Information : Last 10 Posts Sun, 19 May 2013 19:06:21 +0000 Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:49:33 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Web Wiz Forums 8.02 30 www.swineflu.org/RSS_topic_feed.asp?FID=744 Swine Flu - Online Discussion http://www.swineflu.org/forum_images/web_wiz_forums.gif http://www.swineflu.org Hospital Information : Houston Medical staff wearing out-Flood of Kids http://www.swineflu.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=29895&PID=204026#204026 Author: sleusha
Subject: Houston Medical staff wearing out-Flood of Kids
Posted: October 10 2009 at 7:49pm

By CINDY GEORGE Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle

Oct. 10, 2009, 9:25PM

Sniffles, coughs and aches have plagued Houston children, leaving doctors overbooked and overworked as the flu season officially begins.

“I have been working with my associates to the point of exhaustion during this novel flu season,” said Dr. Brian Talbot, one of five physicians at Texas Children's Pediatric Associates in Pearland, which serves more than 10,000 patients.

Pediatricians are working overtime to juggle routine checkups with ailing children without appointments who are swamping their offices.

While this is the traditional start of flu season, children have been sick since April from H1N1, which causes swine flu. Cases have surged again since school resumed in August.

It's the busiest time clinical supervisor Theresa Rivera has experienced in her 13 years at the Pearland practice.

“It's been nonstop since school started,” she said.

It's become so busy that parents calling for appointments are asked not to bring mildly ill kids into the office — for the protection of healthy patients and tag-along siblings who aren't sick.

Public health authorities also advise calling the child's physician or Texas 211 for medical advice before taking pint-size patients to already-clogged emergency rooms.

Texas Children's in Pearland is managing patients in waves — reserving early mornings and early afternoons for “well care” and fitting in ill patients at other times.

The sick side of the waiting room has the most toys, since that's where kids of any health gravitate.

Four-year-old Kwame Dako, who had a bad reaction to Tamiflu, a persistent fever and new joint pain, visited Talbot for the second time in a week Thursday. Lily-Anne Dako, 34, said her son has been lethargic with a light appetite.

The doctor prescribed antibiotics for a secondary infection that he found in Kwame's left ear.

“It's not going to take care of the flu that he's had — that's probably trying to wind itself down,” said Talbot.

Urgent care swamped

The H1N1 virus has hit children particularly hard. Young children have the highest flu hospitalization rates in the United States, and Texas led the nation in pediatric deaths, seven in all, for the week ending Oct. 3.

Some patients with underlying conditions and severe respiratory problems have been admitted to Texas Children's Hospital.

UTMB's pediatric urgent care clinic in Galveston — open until 10 p.m. on weekdays and 8 p.m. on weekends — usually sees 20 to 30 kids in the evenings. But “it's been up in the 60s every night for the last 10 days,” said Dr. Christine Turley, vice chair for clinical services in the UTMB pediatrics department.

“The number of outpatient visits has been just steadily climbing,” she said.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most flu circulating now nationwide is H1N1. Many patients with classic symptoms don't have the flu, and those who do have tend to have mild illnesses.

Still, parents aren't taking any chances.

Dina White whisked her 2½-year-old to the doctor Thursday after the toddler woke up with a high fever.

“I didn't want something worse to happen,” said White, who was surprised about her daughter's flu diagnosis and that the doctor didn't write a prescription. “You just always think when they have symptoms like this, they're going to go ahead and give it to them.”

The Pearland mother alternated Motrin and Tylenol to break Olivia's fever, but by Friday, the child's temperature remained at 100 degrees.

“I might have to take her back,” said White, 37. “Her cough has become more severe, and I hear a little more congestion in her chest.”

The CDC's treatment guidelines continue to change, a source of confusion for parents, Turley said.

“The CDC originally was saying we should treat all kids under 5 if we felt like they had flu, but two or three weeks ago, they said ‘Let's make that under 2.' If they're a little bit older and they don't have asthma or a heart problem, they don't have to get Tamiflu,” the Galveston pediatrician said.

The demands on children's providers and emergency rooms are expected to endure until next May, the CDC predicts.

Awaiting vaccine

Phones continue to ring nonstop. The No. 1 inquiry is whether doctors have the H1N1 vaccine, said Lori Simmons, a medical assistant at Texas Children's in Pearland.

Providers don't have it yet, but believe shipments may start arriving this month.

“They think as soon as we get it, they're going to be able to walk in here and get the vaccine,” Simmons said.

UTMB is expecting its first H1N1 vaccine “any day.”

Priority will be given to 2-year-olds and high-exposure health workers, Turley said.

Physicians and office workers are taking extra precautions to avoid getting sick.

The Pearland practice had extra hand sanitizer dispensers installed to supplement frequent hand washing.

Surgical masks are also available to block germs.

And the irresistible toys and video games in the waiting room?

They're cleaned twice a day, Rivera said.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6662092.html
]]> Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:49:33 +0000 http://www.swineflu.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=29895&PID=204026#204026 Hospital Information : Man Died After Being Told to Leave ER http://www.swineflu.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=29799&PID=203516#203516 Author: sleusha
Subject: Man Died After Being Told to Leave ER
Posted: October 08 2009 at 9:04am

Swine flu victim had left ER

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Associated Press - October 8, 2009 11:55 AM ET

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) - The mother of a man who died of swine-flu-related illness says her son was asked to leave a Corpus Christi hospital emergency room the day before.

Opal Range tells the Corpus Christi Caller-Times that her 58-year-ols son, Irving Neil Range, was found lying on the emergency room floor at Christus Spohn Hospital-Memorial on Oct. 1, too ill sit in a chair. She said her son told her that he went home after the security guard asked him to leave, but he returned to the emergency room Friday and died.

Nueces County health officials confirmed Wednesday that the Corpus Christi man died in the emergency room Friday of swine-flu related illness.

A hospital spokeswoman said she didn't know the specifics of Range's case, but that their security guards don't ask people to leave unless they become belligerent.

 
]]> Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:04:06 +0000 http://www.swineflu.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=29799&PID=203516#203516 Hospital Information : Flu Patients Flooding Children's Hospitals http://www.swineflu.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=29534&PID=201949#201949 Author: sleusha
Subject: Flu Patients Flooding Children's Hospitals
Posted: September 30 2009 at 8:06pm

Flu Patients Flood Children's Hospitals

Doctors work long hours, get creative in handling record cases

By SCOTT GORDON
Updated 9:54 PM CDT, Wed, Sep 30, 2009

Flu patients are flooding North Texas children's hospitals, causing waits of up to eight hours and challenging doctors to keep up with the onslaught.

At Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth, the emergency department treated more than 13,000 patients in September -- 4,000 more than during the same month last year.

"This is the largest volume surge I've ever experienced," said Dr. Kimberly Aaron, Cook's medical director of emergency services. "I sleep when I can; four or five hours here, and then I'll take a break, sleep a little more and come back. We all know what our limits are."

Children's Medical Center in Dallas is seeing two or three times its normal number of patients, said spokeswoman Jessica Newell.

"There are a lot of sick kids out there; we know that," Newell said.

Despite the high number of cases in the emergency room, the hospital is not admitting any more patients than usual, she said. Most are treated and sent home.

"The severity of the illness is looking very similar to the seasonal flu," Newell said.

To deal with the rush, hospitals are getting creative.

At Cook Children's, the normally empty hospital boardroom is now doubling as a patient waiting area.

Staffers who work in other parts of the hospital are volunteering to help out in the ER.

"We do whatever we can do," Dr. Aaron said.

Patients are surprised at the long lines.

"I was shocked when I walked in," Dora Moran said. "There are so many people there."

Moran brought her son, Justin Ream, 14, to see a doctor after he started coughing, running a fever and had trouble breathing.

"I feel real terrible, just awful," Ream said. "I think it's crazy. Over half my school is out with swine flu."

Hospital managers said they might soon force overworked doctors and nurses to take time off if the current pace continues.

They said they fear the problem may only get worse because the normal height of flu season is still weeks away.

Also, the Texas Department of State Health Services said Wednesday that the swine flu vaccines are expected to trickle in slower than planned.

Some 3.4 million doses of the vaccine were projected for Texas by mid-October, but the latest estimates are only half that amount will be available.

"It's a fluid situation," said DSHS commissioner Dr. David Lakey. "All of us will have to be patient and flexible as we meet this challenge."

Texas is ultimately expected to get 15 million doses of the vaccine as soon as it can be manufactured, he said.

Any delay could mean more cases for emergency room physicians.

Despite the long waits, patients are just glad to finally see a doctor.

"Everybody appreciates it, I'm sure," said Justin Ream's mother.

Doctors X-rayed Ream's chest to make sure he was not congested and treated him with intravenous fluids.

"I'm getting better," the eighth-grader said. "It's just going to be a slow process."

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/health/Flu-Patients-Flood-Childrens-Hospitals-62998922.html
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