Maine Health Alert

H1N1 Update for November 20, 2009

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:29:59 EST

H1N1 continues to expand and worsen amid increasing vaccine shortages relative to demand for it as well as under-utilization of antiviral medicines. There have been a total of 143 schools with reported high absentee rates, including 44 this past week; ER visits for flu account for about 1 in 6 ER patients; there have been 50 hospitalizations this week, with half of them among children; and ther...

H1N1 Update for November 13, 2009

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:54:47 EST

As expected, H1N1 continues to expand and worsen. In the last several days there have been 65 school outbreaks, 19 hospitalizations, 2 deaths (for a total of 3 since August), and about 1 in 6 emergency room visits are for flu. There is also evidence that antiviral medicines continue to be under-utilized. The vaccine supply continues to slowly improve. There is sufficient vaccine now for 1 i...

H1N1 Update for Friday, November 6, 2009

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:09:27 EST

This health advisory serves to update health care providers and others on the H1N1 situation in Maine as well as access to vaccine and antiviral medications.

H1N1 CONTINUES TO SPREAD AND WORSEN IN MAINE As anticipated, H1N1 continues to expand and worsen. Outpatient visits for influenza, the numbers of schools reporting high absenteeism, and hospitalizations have all increased su...

Treatment and Prophylaxis with Antivirals Maine Stockpile Available for Uninsured and Underinsured Outpatients and Inpatients

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:04:55 EDT

With H1N1 increasingly becoming widespread in Maine, with the disease expected to continue to expand and worsen, and with very limited vaccine supplies, it is critical that health care providers know the importance of treating and providing prophylaxis for those patients at high-risk for complications with antiviral medicines. A significant portion of the state stockpile has been available to ...

Maine School-Located Influenza Vaccine Funding for K-12 Schools

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:20:18 EDT

In collaboration with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) in the Maine Department of Health and Human Services we enter into this agreement to offer seasonal influenza and H1N1 influenza vaccines in K-12 schools.

This partnership sets the foundation not only to protect the health of school children and the school community, but also to protect the health...

Widespread Influenza Activity in Maine

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:05:35 EDT

Influenza activity in Maine has increased during the past week. Additionally, this week laboratory confirmed seasonal influenza H3 and influenza B were reported, indicating seasonal variants of influenza are also present in Maine. The purpose of this health advisory is to request that health care partners report cases of laboratory-confirmed 2009 H1N1 influenza and any cases of influenza (sea...