Arkport native questions seriousness of avian flu threat

August 28th, 2006 · No Comments· 65 views

Here is my inteview with the Hornell Evening Tribune, reprinted with permission.

HORNELL EVENING TRIBUNE

Arkport native questions seriousness of avian flu threat: Hornellsville supervisor stands by decision to stockpile 5,000 masks
By LAWRENCE HOVISH

Arkport native Chuck Simmins isn’t buying all the hype surrounding avian flu, and he’s a little concerned about how one local municipality is preparing for it.

Simmins, 51, is a semi-professional blogger now living in Irondequoit. He works as the controller for Rochester-based GLC Business Services and has been blogging since 2002. Simmins’ Web site www.northshorejournal.org focuses on government, pandemics, people’s rights and the war in Iraq.

“I am basically a right of center political blog,” he said. “I’m proudly pro-American.”

Simmins is concerned about the decision to store 5,000 surgical masks in the Town of Hornellsville in case of an epidemic.

“Relying on surgical masks as a main line of defense provides a false sense of security,” Simmins said.

Simmins believes surgical masks will not be effective at stopping bird flu. He suggested hand washing, the annual flu shot and particularly, a pneumonia vaccine, are better ways to keep healthy.

“That is the single thing that is going to prevent death in any influenza epidemic, whether it’s avian flu or something else,” Simmins said. “If you wash your hands appropriately and have the pneumonia vaccination your chances are remarkably reduced.”

Hornellsville town Supervisor Ken Isaman doesn’t agree.

“If the mask is used properly - from what we are hearing from health officials - it is going to reduce or eliminate the potential for contracting bird flu or any other disease that comes along,” Isaman said. “It’s a part of the prevention. I’m not saying it’s the whole thing, but the more we become prepared the better off our communities will be.”

Isaman also stressed being prepared is government’s responsibility. With that in mind, Isaman is considering stockpiling other items, including aspirin and water. He said those items could be used in several different kinds of emergencies.

“If a pandemic was to hit, how many masks will be available in Hornell, N.Y., a week after it hits?” Isaman asked. “The manufacturers will be totally out.”

Karen Travis, Steuben County Public Health’s emergency preparedness coordinator, said shots are only one of several actions people can take to protect themselves.

“There’s other things too, like nutrition, exercise and generally keeping your body healthy,” Travis added.

Travis also stressed hand hygiene can go a long way to preventing illness.

Simmins, who also is an EMT and a self-proclaimed lay expert on weapons of mass destruction, said only N95 masks can prevent infection.

Travis, however, stressed N95s prevent infection from aerosolized contaminants. The masks, she said, also must be fitted to each individual’s face and will not work if worn improperly.

“Surgical masks are fine for droplet types,” Travis added. “Transmission of the flu is predominantly droplet spread, but it can be by contact or airborne. Droplets are large particles and pretty effectively caught by surgical masks. The general public is not going to be in a situation where those droplets are aerosolized.”

Masks aside, Simmins has another problem. He feels avian flu is being over hyped.

“We all know SARs sort of petered out to put it charitably,” he said. “Avian flu sounded so very familiar. I’m in the growing minority that believes the threat has been exaggerated.

“There have been three influenza epidemics we know about,” Simmins added. “I’ve lived through two. I certainly don’t remember people bringing carts down the street collecting dead bodies.”

According to Simmins, about 30,000 people die from influenza in the United States annually, often times due to a secondary pneumonia infection. During the last epidemic in 1968-69, some 34,000 people died in the U.S. While Simmins noted the population was lower then, he contends that is proof of avian flu being over hyped.

“It wasn’t a great disaster,” he added.

Simmins also noted in Third World nations are under a greater threat because people live with their livestock.

Simmins biggest argument: Today’s health care is just that good. In 1918, when Spanish flu killed more than 500,000 people in the U.S., Simmins said there were no intravenous fluids, oxygen masks and universal precautions such as rubber gloves and masks.

“My basic perspective on avian flu is right now there is no reason to panic because all of the evidence suggests it is not going to be a pandemic,” he said. “If it is a pandemic, we in the United States - whether in Hornell, Rochester or Washington - are far better prepared to face it then we’ve ever been for anything else. We are pretty darn good with our medical care, and I think we can take a lot of pride in that.”

Travis believes it’s right to be concerned about bird flu.

“It’s such a huge issue, and it involves all of our lives,” she said. “Every sector of the community will be touched by it.”

As of Aug. 23, Travis said 241 cases of bird flu have been reported to WHO. That includes 141 deaths. On the face of it, that’s a 58.5-percent mortality rate, but Travis said that’s high and may not be indicative of what would happen in a real outbreak.

“It’s not a pandemic so we can’t generalize that far,” she said.

According to Travis, avian flu is now in phase three as defined by the World Health Organization. That means the strain has no or limited human-to-human transmission. There are six phases, with the first being a low risk of human case and six meaning the strain has efficient and sustained human-to-human transmission.

Something everyone agrees on, however, is people need to stay informed. Travis recommended visiting www.pandemicflu.gov or www.avianflu.gov. Simmins also encourages people to visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site at www.cdc.gov, as well as WHO’s at www.who.int.

Isaman, meanwhile, said he’ll be ready.

“It will take time for health officials to react, to come up with a serum to negate it,” Isaman said. “In the meantime, I think I’ll be wearing my mask.”