Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 14, 2009)
School superintendent says Heppner High School has been hit hard with the flu ... .............11 1 1 1 I 11 I 1 1 11 11 ( M 1 1 , | , 11 By April Sykes Bessie Wetzel I Newspaper l ibrarx University o f Oregon Eugene. OR 97403 M orrow C o u n ty S c h o o l S u p e rin te n d e n t M ark B urrow s to ld the school board on Monday night that the flu virus has hit the schools, especially in south Morrow County. HEPPNER However, Burrows said that except for Heppner High School, attendance is still fairly high. He said atten dance in Irrigon Schools is still in the low 90 percent; in Boardm an, it’s in the high 80 percent; at Hep pner Elementary, 87 per cent, however at Heppner High School, the hardest hit, attendance had dipped to around 70 percent on Monday. On Tuesday, the absentee rate at HHS was 32.8 percent, the district office has reported. Burrows said that the district has contacted the Morrow County Health Department who referred them to an epidemiologist who did not recom m end closing schools. He said that as o f Monday night, only two staff members at HHS have contacted the flu. As o f Tuesday, none had been confirmed H 1N 1 (swine flu), since only peo ple hospitalized with the flu w ill be tested for H 1N 1, according to protocol. “We will continue to stay in touch with the state health departm ent,” he said. He added that if the schools get to the point where half o f the students are out because o f illness they will revisit the issue. At that point he said that tea c h in g w ould be d is rupted. Burrows said that so far, the flu has seemed to last only a few days and students can return to school 24 hours after their fever has disappeared. Bur- rows stressed that students should not come to school if they have a fever. Concerning financ es, B urrow s said he had ju st returned from a trip to Salem concerning the district’s financial outlook and reported that the school d is tr ic t's fin a n c es look “very good” for the 2009- 10 school year. However, he said, “There are some sh a rk s” in future years, especially if the tax mea sures enacted by the state legislature are repealed by voters. One of those mea- -See SCHOOL DISTRICT/ Page FIVE It is definitely flu season By Molly Rhea, RN, Di rector of Nursing, Home Health & Hospice unes V O L . 128 NO. 40 lO P a g e s W e d n e s d a y , O c to b e r 14, 2 0 0 9 M o rro w Coun ty, H ep p ne r, O re g o n Due to a sudden influx o f individuals with flu-like symptom s to the em ergency d e p a rtm e n t, Pioneer Memorial Hospital (PM H ) is only allow ing patients and visitors to enter through the hospital’s front (main) entrance or the doors Signs at Pioneer Memorial Hospital direct visitors with Hu-like adjacent to the emergency symptoms to the emergency room entrance. Molly Rhea, direc Heppner residents test positive for Influenza A According to Sher- ee Sm ith, public health director, and Shelley Wight, communicable disease co ordinator, o f the Morrow County Health Department, six people tested positive over the weekend for In fluenza A (not H1N1). O f the six that tested positive for Influenza A, none have becom e ill enough to be hospitalized. If anyone who has the flu does becom e ill enough to be hospitalized, they w ill then be tested for H1N1 (sw ine flu) as per state guidelines. The Center for Disease Control has found that 99% of pa tients that test positive for Influenza A and are later h o sp ita liz e d because o f complications test positive for H 1N 1. Oregon numbers o f confirmed H1N1 cases are based on confirm ed cased found through hospi talized flu patients. Accord ing to the Morrow County H ealth D e p a rtm en t, no one has been hospitalized because o f complications from Influenza A in Morrow County. If anyone does de velop flu-like symptoms, they are encouraged to stay home and not expose other people. T hose that find themselves sick are further encouraged to be free o f a tem perature for 24 hours before returning to work or school During this flu sea son, residents are encour aged to use Kleenex, wash their hands often and use hand sanitizer. Gibbs, Day bag big bucks Ji Garrett Gibbs (left) and Cameron Day (right), both of Heppner, bagged these mule deer bucks during this year’s rifle hunting season. -Contributed Photos The Heppner Gazette-Times wants to see pictures o f your trophy animals from this hunting season. Stop by to have your picture taken, drop o ff photos, or email them to editor@rapidserve. net. County gets some flu vaccines By David Sykes conditions. As of last Wednes day, the M orrow County H ealth D ep artm en t had received 100 doses o f the H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine, a Public Health Emergency Preparedness Coordinator told the Heppner Chamber o f Com m erce last Thurs day. K risti W h e e le r- Johnson told the chamber that the vaccine would be administered first to the fol- lowing people: Health care providers and law enforce ment personnel, pregnant w om en, new p a re n ts o f children under six months, people six m onths to 24 years old and 25 to 64-year- olds with certain medical said people who fit into these groups should contact the M o rro w C o u n ty Health Department about sch ed u lin g their immunization. She said M orrow County had 7,000 p e o p le w h o fit into the group out o f a population of kristi 12,000. She said about one h a lf o f the 7.000 target group was school age children. She also said she was expecting more doses soon but was not sure when. Johnson said there were two types of doses- Johnson Wheeler-Johnson nasal spray and injections- and that they were recom mending the two year to 49 year-old age group should be able to receive the mist vaccine. She also said it has been learned that one dose department, at the back of the hospital. The intention o f the restricted access is to keep people with influenza apart from our acute inpa tients as well as our long term-care residents. In flu e n z a A has been evident in south Mor row County since late Sep tember. Since O ctober 1 Pioneer M em orial Clinic has seen a trickle of patients com e through that have tested positive for the flu. Monday morning, October 12, the clinic had a deluge of calls and people coming to the clinic with flu-like symptoms. Thus lies the is sue. Through all the media coverage people need to re member this is the flu (short for influenza), much like the seasonal flu that goes around every year. And we treat is just it just like we do every other year. Stay home, rest and hydrate. Yes there will be a vaccine, hopefully it will arrive in time to prevent some folks from getting the flu, but just like all the other years with the flu shots we urge everyone to get, some folks may get the flu in spite of receiving the vaccine. W hat a b o u t the anti-virals, like Tamiflu? While we do have a limited supply o f this medication available, health officials are stressing these should be used only for patients w ith c o -m o rb id itie s or w hose im m une system s are compromised. Tamiflu does not cure influenza. It may decrease the severity o f sym ptom s and it may decrease the length of time a person is afflicted w ith in fluenza by about 24 hours. Also o f note, there are other types of flu in our midst, as well as the com mon cold. These all need to be treated in the same manner. Stay home - this is important so others will not be exposed to what ever you are coughing. Rest - allow YS AT 5 your body time to recover and mend. Drink plenty of fluids. The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it’s almost impossible not com ing into contact with H 1N 1 in spite o f all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much o f a problem as spread of germs is. While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms in order to prevent prolifera tion, aggravation o f symp toms and development o f secondary infections, some very simple steps can be practiced: 1. Frequent hand washing (well highlighted in all official com m uni cations). 2. “ H ands-off- the-face” approach. Resist all tem ptations to touch any part of face. 3. Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vi tamin C. 4. Drink plenty o f liquids, some informa tion encourages drinking warm liquids in the theory the warm liquids wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive. If you, or som e one in your household has sym ptom s o f the flu (fe ver, body aches, chills, headache, other chronic illnesses), you need to stay home, rest and concentrate on keeping hy drated. If the person with the flu devel ops complications such as difficulty breathing, bluish color to skin or lips, cough ing up blood, com plains o f pain or pressure in the chest, appears confused, or gets w orse after appear ing to improve, please call Pioneer M emorial Clinic at 676-5504. or Pioneer Memorial Hospital at 676- 9133 for instructions. If you have questions or con cerns, please call Pioneer Memorial Clinic. There are nurses available to talk to you and help guide you through this issue. $ 5.49 ea. NAPA Mac's Diesel Fuel Supplement w/ Cetane (1 Qt.) NAPA Mac's Diesel Fuel ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE: MONDA o f the H 1N 1 vaccine is now sufficient. It was earlier re ported that two doses were necessary. The symptoms of the H 1N 1 are coughing and sneezing and runny nose, body aches and sometimes gastrointestinal symptoms. Johnson said the H1N1 is actually a mild disease but because no one is immune, more people are getting the flu. tor of Nursing, Home Health & Hospice, stated that regular appointments at the Heppner Clinic had been cancelled. Pa tients who have the flu are asked not to come to the hospital unless they develop complications. The hospital doors are locked and patients will have to enter through the emergency room entrance. Photo by David Sykes Conditioner w Cetane ( 1 Qt.) Lu cas Synthetic Oil S tab lizer (32 oz.) $ 10.99 M o r r o w C ounty G rain G ro w e rs Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800452-7396 h t tun «gulpnwnl mu wr mb itti u *w* a e a ml
