Partner with us to prevent the spread of influenza
At UW Medicine, protecting our patients, visitors, staff, faculty and trainees from the flu is a top priority. Influenza, whether the seasonal strain or the novel H1N1 virus, can adversely affect our patients and the individuals who care for them.
UW Medicine is taking additional precautions, based on information from Public Health-Seattle & King County, the Washington Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control.
For faculty, staff and trainees who do not provide direct patient care, Hall Health Primary Care Center offers good information on flu prevention.
At Harborview Medical Center and UW Medical Center, along with our Neighborhood Clinics and other patient care entities, we ask that patients, families and visitors partner with us to prevent the spread of the flu.
- Visitors who are experiencing flu-like symptoms, or have been recently exposed to someone with the flu, should return when they have recovered.
- Upon entering – and leaving – a patient’s room, visitors should clean their hands with gel or soap and water.
- Sneeze or cough into the crook of your arm, or cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing, dispose of the tissue and wash or gel your hands.
- Vaccines offer the best protection for both the seasonal flu and H1N1 virus.
- Stay home if you have flu-like symptoms.
- If you have a fever, wait at least 24 hours after your fever is gone (without the use of fever-reducing medicine) before returning to work.
Additional hospital precautions include:
- All staff are being encouraged to get vaccinated.
- To help stop the spread of the flu, staff wear surgical masks, eye protection, gowns and gloves upon entering the rooms of patients who have suspected or confirmed flu.
- Patients with suspected or confirmed cases of the flu may be isolated from other patients to prevent the flu from spreading.
- When patients with flu-like symptoms arrive in our clinics or emergency departments, we ask them to wear a surgical mask to cover coughs. Staff caring for patients with symptoms wear a mask, eye protection and gloves.
For more information on hospital-specific flu precautions, Harborview employees should go to the Harborview password protected web site, and UW Medical Center employees should go to UWMC's password protected web site.
H1N1 Research
UW Medicine is involved in research involving the H1N1 vaccine. Harborview’s Virology Research Clinic, along with Seattle Children’s Research Institute, is a subsite of Group Health Cooperative’s vaccine research, .Group Health is one of the eight U.S. sites that is testing the H1N1 vaccine compounds. Co-investigators for the Group Health Cooperative vaccine treatment and evaluation unit are Dr. Anna Wald, UW professor in the Department of Medicine, Epidemiology and Laboratory Medicine, and Dr. Janet Englund, UW professor of pediatrics in the Department of Infectious Diseases at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. Wald talks about the trials and vaccine strategies. Watch video >
Wald and Eduardo Muñoz, a clinical-trial participant, discuss the swine flu vaccine and follow-up. Watch video >
Resources
The UW Medicine Flu Information Line, 206.685.4FLU (4358), offers patients and other callers up-to-date information on H1N1 and seasonal flu. Topics include vaccines, when to seek medical care and how to keep from getting the flu. Specific information is also available for pregnant women and children.
For additional information on the flu, vaccines, where to get vaccines and how to treat the flu, refer to the links below.