News & Events

During this past influenza season, the Department of Health adopted an emergency rule which required physicians and other healthcare providers and hospitals to report hospitalized and deceased patients with laboratory-confirmed influenza to their local health jurisdiction. This emergency order expired on May 15, 2010. You are no longer required by law to report these cases to your local health jurisdiction.

Download and read the rest of this message from State Health Officer Dr. Maxine Hayes, issued May 17, 2010. [PDF]

H1N1 links

• WSMA’s PSA on Swine Flu (also available in Spanish). (Windows Media Player required to view)
• The Washington State Department of Health's dedicated H1N1 webpages
• The AMA's dedicated H1N1 webpages
• The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention's dedicated H1N1 webpage
• CDC recommendations for clinicians:
  • antiviral treatments for H1N1 [PDF]
  • for suspected, probable, or confirmed novel H1N1 influenza [PDF]
• DOH recommendations for clinicians:
  • on specimen collection and processing [PDF] 
  • patient materials in a variety of foreign languages
• Earlier messages from State Health Officer Dr. Maxine Hayes:
  • January 22, 2010 message on the importance of promoting the vaccine, and ensuring that children received their second dose. [PDF]
  • November 6, 2009 message about sharply increasing infections [PDF] 
  • May 6, 2009 message on use of antivirals [PDF]