By Monica Chen
mchen@heraldsun.com; 419-6636
DURHAM -- Businesses will do well to give their employees support and time off when they develop flu-like symptoms this fall to prevent the spread of the H1N1 virus, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said on Wednesday.
"It's important for employers to know that it's in their economic self-interest to be as supportive and accommodating as possible," Locke said. "If people fear losing their jobs, particularly in these economic times, they're going to come to work sick, and that's only going to spread the H1N1 flu to co-workers. That could end up shutting down the company."
Locke said businesses should start preparing now in the event of large absences from their employees. A toolkit for employers has been set up at www.flu.gov.
As of the Centers for Disease Control's most recent tally, there have been 43,771 swine flu cases reported nationally. Of these, 5,011 people were hospitalized and 302 people have died.
The seasonal flu vaccines do not protect against the new H1N1 strain, and the H1N1 vaccines will be in limited supply, leading to concerns that there could be a particularly severe flu season this year, according to the CDC.
Among local employers, Duke University Health System and UNC Health Care both have previously established policies for employees and health care workers.
In its recently updated guidelines, Duke Vice President for Human Resources Kyle Cavanaugh acknowledged that since it's likely vaccines for the H1N1 virus will be in short supply, many workers at Duke as well as students will get this new strain.
"Prevention is our best defense to limit the spread of an outbreak," he said.
As a result, on top of requiring all staff with flu-like symptoms to stay home, from Sept. 1 to March 31, Duke will also allow workers who have used up all time off to get an advance of up to three days.
At UNC, health care workers with a fever and a cough or sore throat must stay home until 24 hours after their fever resolves.
Toby Merlin, deputy director of the Influenza Coordination Unit at the Centers for Disease Control said Wednesday that the swine flu can infect more people than regular seasonal flu.
"Most people lack immunity to swine flu," he said. "The disease it causes is in general not more severe than the disease caused by seasonal influenza in most individuals, but some individuals who get swine influenza can get very severe disease, particularly people under the age of five."
