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SALT LAKE CITY -- Hospital emergency rooms expect to see an increase in patients in the coming days because of concern over swine flu. Hospital administrators are worried the e.r. will be unnecessarily overloaded because people will come in who don't need to.
Doctors at Primary Children's Medical Center addressed that issue Friday. They are particularly concerned right now because children, especially those under the age of 2, can be very susceptible to the flu. And swine flu, or H1N1, is not the only strain of flu active right now.
Still, this hospital is geared up and ready.
Dr. Andy Pavia, chief of the hospital's Pediatric Infectious Diseases Division, said, "We are by and large using a well-established plan that we use every winter to go into high season. We're doing a few things additional because we don't know how high the surge will go."
When flu season hits each winter, hospitals gear up with extra supplies, staff and medicines. When the swine flu took off during the past week, Primary Children's and other hospitals went into their winter preparedness mode.
The concern is the unpredictability of the disease.
"It's influenza, and anybody who studies influenza knows that you have to be humble. The disease can change and we have to anticipate that it may become worse," Dr. Pavia said.
But doctors caution against panic. So far, those who have contracted the disease had only mild symptoms and recovered at home without any treatment.
At Primary Children's Medical Center, doctors are concerned about the emergency room becoming overloaded by patients who have flu-like symptoms and want to be tested. They advise, only go to the e.r. if symptoms are severe, especially in children.
Dr. Ed Clark, chief medical officer at the hospital said, "We ask people to direct their calls first to their primary care provider, to their pediatrician, to their family practitioner and get his or her advice as to whether they need to seek care here at Primary Children's."
This latest flu outbreak has generated a lot of media attention around the world. How serious the outbreak becomes remains to be seen. But the medical community believes it's ready for whatever comes.
Dr. Pavia said, "I think the attention it's getting from the public health community is absolutely warranted. If we aren't prepared and aren't able to react well, then we're going to get caught off guard."
Since children can get the flu easily, Primary Children's is taking additional precautions. It may limit the number of visitors to the hospital in the weeks ahead, and it's requiring everyone who comes through the front doors to use a hand sanitizer. There are masks for those who are coughing or sneezing.
E-mail: kmccord@ksl.com
