Handy way to fight flu

THE first shots in Townsville Hospital’s war on influenza have been fired with a complete $ 80,000 overhaul of its hand hygiene campaign.

New hand sanitiser equipment and consistent signage has been installed throughout the hospital.

Retired Townsville business owner and member of the quality and safety board of the hospital Ted Winterbottom initiated the program after he noticed the system for public hygiene was poor.

“I just wondered about the public and the implications, with hundreds of people coming and going every day,” he said. “It was found internationally that in- your- face signage and education to staff and volunteers is the best way to go.”

Mr Winterbottom said that was the basis of the new program he would monitor over coming months.

“Hopefully we will have a really good flu season and our infection rates will be down,” he said.

Board chair Tony Mooney said in 2018 the Townsville HHS was pulling out all stops to ensure there was no repeat of last year’s horror flu season.

“This year we are orchestrating a full- on assault against influenza to keep our community and our patients safe,” he said. “The board has approved additional resources to bolster our response to influenza, including funding for the refreshed hand hygiene campaign.

“Our local response will support the statewide influenza campaign, which will be rolled out in the coming weeks.”

Townsville Public Health Unit director Dr Steven Donohue said hand hygiene sat alongside immunisation as a critical frontline defence against influenza.

Dr Donohue said across the Townsville Hospital and Health Service in 2017 there were 2883 laboratory confirmed notifications of influenza, almost double the numbers from 2016.

“People who are already unwell are those most at risk of being seriously impacted by influenza,” he said.

“Every day hundreds of people come in and out of the Townsville Hospital and I can’t understate the importance of those people practising good hand hygiene.

“The influenza virus is just one nasty virus that can sit on a surface for hours, which is why it is vitally important that before visiting patients and after leaving wards people wash their hands thoroughly.”

Mr Mooney said in coming weeks the Townsville HHS had a series of announcements planned about this year’s influenza response.