Health workers didn’t take swine flu precautions

By MIKE STOBBE, Google

ATLANTA (AP) — The first study of U.S. health care workers with swine flu found that many didn’t do enough to protect themselves against the virus.

Researchers focused on 13 nurses and other health care workers who were likely infected at work in the early days of the U.S. outbreak. They found that only half always wore gloves, and even fewer routinely wore other protection around patients who might have the virus.

In late April — just as U.S. cases were first mounting — the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said health care workers should wear gloves, gowns, eye protection and respirator masks when dealing with patients suspected of having swine flu. The CDC also advised sick workers to stay home.

To date, about 80 health care workers have been confirmed with swine flu. The study examined the 26 cases of infected workers with detailed information as of mid-May the study’s numbers are too small to generalize about what’s going on in clinics and hospitals. But they suggest that at least some health care workers aren’t doing enough to identify and isolate patients with swine flu and take precautions when treating them, said Dr. Michael Bell, a CDC official focused on infection control in health care settings.

“I think we’ve been lucky that this first wave has not been of the lethality that some people feared,” Bell said, at a news conference Thursday.

But CDC officials say many health care workers will need to improve how they deal with the flu, especially if — as some fear — the virus mutates into a deadlier form.

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