The flu season is only just beginning, but to protect patients from H1N1 and other flu viruses, the Lifespan health system last week implemented visitor restrictions at Rhode Island Hospital/Hasbro Children’s Hospital, The Miriam Hospital and Newport Hospital.

Lifespan is not the first to take these measures; several hospitals across the country have done the same in recent weeks. Dr. Mary Reich Cooper, Lifespan’s senior vice president and chief quality officer, answered questions about the new rules and the reasoning behind them.

PBN: What led Lifespan to take this precaution right now?

COOPER: We have been watching what has gone on at other hospitals around the country, particularly in the South, where they started school earlier than we did. Several of those hospitals have implemented visitor restrictions as they saw spikes in influenza-like illness. We took this proactive measure at our acute care medical/surgical hospitals [but not at Bradley Hospital] to help prevent the spread of 2009 H1N1 flu and seasonal flu.

PBN: Why are you restricting visits by all children under 18?

COOPER: Children under 18 have been shown to be one of the populations that are more susceptible to 2009 H1N1 flu, as they have less immunity from previous versions of flu. There is also some thought that young children may spread 2009 H1N1 influenza longer than adults.

PBN: Do you have a sense of how many visitors under 18 your hospitals get, and how flexible do you expect to be when it comes to, say, sick parents visited by their children, or siblings visiting patients at Hasbro?

COOPER: Exceptions may be made under special circumstances, and each hospital is determining how those exceptions are made. We recognize that family and friends are important in the healing process and that these restrictions may cause a hardship for patients and their families. We ask for their patience and understanding. We would be remiss if we did not take steps that we believe will help minimize as much as possible the spread of both the seasonal and 2009 H1N1 flu viruses. We will be reviewing the restrictions and may change them as the season progresses and more information becomes available.

PBN: How much work has Lifespan done in-house to ensure that clinical and non-clinical staff don’t bring the 2009 H1N1 or other flu viruses into the hospitals?

COOPER: We have been revisiting policies to ensure that they address the issues with the 2009 H1N1 flu, and there are meetings several times a week, internally and at the state level, to stay on top of the processes and share information.

We are constantly educating staff, patients and visitors about the importance of cough etiquette (cough into an elbow or shoulder), cleaning their hands frequently, getting vaccinated, staying home when they’re sick, and making sure they have a plan for caring for other members of their family should they become ill.

We have alcohol hand sanitizer readily available throughout the hospitals, and outside of all patient rooms. In less than three weeks, we have vaccinated more than half of our staff, volunteers and physicians for seasonal flu and have plans in place for administering the 2009 H1N1 vaccine when it becomes available in October.

PBN: How much 2009 H1N1 and other flu-related illnesses have you seen this year? Are hospitalizations up for things like pneumonia? How many cases do you expect to see as the flu season really kicks in?

COOPER: The 2009 H1N1 flu started last April, and unlike the seasonal flu, it never really went away. Now that the kids are back in school and people are spending more time indoors, we are starting to see a slight increase in viral infections, such as colds and flu-like illness. Because 2009 H1N1 flu is new, the estimates are that 30 to 40 percent of the population will get it. So far, the vast majority of those who contracted the virus have recovered well without needing hospitalization. Our hospitals have been working in conjunction with the R.I. Department of Health and other hospitals around the state on plans for an increase in the amount of illness.