As we all probably know by now, the World Health Organization (WHO) raised the worldwide pandemic alert level to Phase 6 in response to the ongoing global spread of the Novel Influenza A (H1N1) virus. A Phase 6 designation indicates that a global pandemic is underway.

Being in the business of infection control, I and most of you who are reading this know that the most important thing that we can do to limit the spread of this virus and to reduce the chances of becoming infected ourselves is to simply wash our hands regularly with either a water aided or waterless topical antimicrobial product and regularly clean our environmental surfaces with an EPA registered Hard Surface Disinfectant product. But how do we know that these products will actually kill the Novel H1N1 strain? This strain is the nastier mutated brother of the Human H1N1 strain — right? So, if the product that I am using has been shown to be effective in killing Human Influenza, will it kill the new Novel strain? You must assume NO, unless the product has been tested and proven effective against this specific strain.

If you are using one of these products, look on the label or call the manufacturer to see if the product has been proven to be effective against the Novel (Swine) Influenza strain. Or, if you are making these types of products, a testing laboratory with the CDC approved Novel H1N1 strain, such as BioScience Laboratories can conduct the appropriate test to see if your product is in fact effective against the new strain.

For current information on the H1NI Pandemic, visit http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1FLU/.
 
Kyle McGovern, MBA
Senior Account Executive