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Clinic to host swine flu talk

The Boca Grande Health Clinic will present a lecture on swine flu on Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 3 p.m. in the Boca Grande Community Center auditorium. The lecture will be given by Dr. Michael Steffan Sr. M.D., the newest physician at the clinic.

Anyone with questions on the topic are encouraged to attend.

“This is probably the hottest topic in medicine right now,” Steffan said. “We thought it would be good to give a lecture to update people on the newest developments. It’s interesting, because the topic is changing so fast it’s hard to keep up sometimes.”

One of the most significant recent changes in healthcare protocol in reference to swine flu is the fact that the Center for Disease Control has stopped recommending that healthcare agencies send specimens for swine flu analysis.

“It got to the point in August and September, when it was too early for seasonal flu, that if someone had flu-like symptoms we could do a diagnosis of exclusion,” Steffan said. “It is the only thing going around at that time.”

Steffan also said that the CDC made a change in its recommendations several weeks ago to save Tamiflu for certain categories of patients that are more susceptible to swine flu.

“We could also give Tamiflu as preventative medicine if someone has had significant exposure,” he said. “The current recommendation, though, is to wait and see if they become infected.”

He explained that the thought of the CDC is to try to prevent Tamiflu resistance through giving the vaccine primarily to children and pregnant woman, then to healthcare workers that have been exposed.

As far as the availability of swine flu vaccines coming to Boca Grande, he said that the health department had told the clinic they were lower on the list to receive it.

“As of today the government is way behind on the number of doses they thought they would have,” he said. “They thought they would have about 100 million, there are actually about 10 million. Those are very approximate numbers, but that’s why we’re down lower on the list to receive it here at the clinic.”

Steffan said he strongly recommends that everyone receive a seasonal flu shot, and that the clinic has received approximately 400 doses this year.

The lecture will be 30 minutes long, followed by a question and answer period of 30 minutes. Afterward, the community is invited to the Woman’s Club Room for a reception for Steffan.

“I want it to be very open, if people want to ask questions during or after the lecture I’m very available,” he said.

Call 964-2276 for more information.