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Just a few weeks after flu activity in Indiana hit record highs, local flu cases are on the decline – spurring Allen County’s top health official to recommend that hospitals and nursing homes lift visitor restrictions.
Dr. Deborah McMahan, the county’s health commissioner, announced Monday that hospitals and nursing homes could once again welcome children to visit patients, serve as interns and do volunteer work. Since Oct. 16, facilities restricted children in an effort to protect patients and staff from the flu.
Unlike the seasonal flu, which is more likely to affect the elderly, children have been hit the hardest by the H1N1 strain, also known as swine flu.
All of Parkview Health’s facilities will lift the restrictions beginning today, said Betty Brown, chief quality and patient safety officer for Parkview Health.
“We are busier now than we usually are this time of year with influenza but we are not as busy as we have been,” Brown said.
When hospitals first restricted children from visiting, the number of patients going to the emergency room, outpatient clinics and related doctor’s offices was very high.
But now the number of patients complaining of the flu has leveled off, she said.
While most visitors complied with the visitation policy, hospital officials are happy to lift the restrictions, Brown said.
She does urge visitors to stay away if they are sick and to take advantage of the hand sanitizer stationed at hospital entrances.
A spokesman for Lutheran Health Network could not be reached for comment.
McMahan said she would be mailing notices to area nursing homes.
Local health officials began discussing whether to lift the restrictions last week.
McMahan based her recommendation on the number of patients complaining of the flu to emergency rooms and doctors’ offices plus school attendance. Absenteeism rates have dropped at local schools and are virtually back to normal.
“Putting that all together, there is still transmission, but not to the point where we have to cause that disruption to the hospitals and the families and the students who do internships and volunteer work,” she said.
Flu activity in local schools is a strong indicator of the prevalence of outbreaks.
“We took our lead from the schools,” McMahan said.
In mid-October, student absentee rates in the area ranged from 10 percent to 16 percent. Imagine Schools on Broadway hit 28 percent and closed for several days.
Under state law, schools are required to report to the health department when they have 20 percent or more students absent.
Three weeks ago, 39 schools across the state hit that threshold, but the number dwindled to just three this past week, according to the Indiana Department of Health.
Lifting the restrictions is a good thing and a sign that things are returning to normal, McMahan said.
But she worries that people will let their guard down and decide not to get vaccinated to protect themselves against H1N1. Health officials are still expecting a third wave of the swine flu in February and March – also the height of the seasonal flu season.
McMahan urged residents to get vaccinated, especially students who hope to intern and volunteer at hospitals and nursing homes.
The visitation restrictions could be reinstated if the amount of flu circulating in the area increases again, she said.
“If everyone gets vaccinated, we could prevent a third wave,” McMahan said. “We need everybody to be as healthy as possible.”
