Morningstar, Inc., a leading provider of independent investment research, today named Mark Miller, chairman, president, and CEO of Stericycle Inc. as its 2009 CEO of the Year! Read more.

As the Old Man Winter approaches and the air blows with a chill, summer-loving folk deny the upcoming cold season by continuing to wear sun hats and flip flops. However, with 5% to 20% of the United States population contracting the flu each year, maybe it’s time to consider tube socks instead of tube tops.

This flu season promises to be a particularly harsh one, with the entrance of a new strain of Influenza virus: the H1N1, or “swine” flu. Last week alone, CDC has tested 8,268 people positive for Influenza. All subtyped influenza A viruses being reported to CDC were 2009 influenza A (H1N1) viruses. Whereas the typical flu season starts in late November, making the emergence of the H1N1 virus first influenza pandemic (global outbreak of disease) in more than 40 years. Additionally, the flu season has started earlier than usual, with over 13,000 cases of the flu nationwide since August 30th.

The signs of the H1N1 are quite similar to the Seasonal Flu, requiring a test to differentiate between strains.

Seasonal Flu
All types of flu can cause:

o Fever
o Coughing and/or sore throat
o Runny or stuffy nose
o Headaches and/or body aches
o Chills
o Fatigue Similar to seasonal flu, but symptoms may be more severe.

H1N1 Flu
There may be additional symptoms. A significant number of H1N1 flu cases:

o Vomiting
ο Diarrhea

Source: http://flu.gov/individualfamily/about/h1n1/index.html

For both types of flu, symptoms can range from mild to severe.

Despite this new strain of flu virus, CDC’s recommendations to avoid getting sick remain the same:

ο Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
ο Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
ο Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
ο Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
ο Stay home if you are sick until at least 24 hours after you no longer have a fever (100°F or 37.8°C) or signs of a fever (without the use of a fever-reducing medicine, such as Tylenol®).
ο Follow public health advice regarding school closures, avoiding crowds and other social distancing measures.

Additionally, CDC recommends that those at high risk for contracting either type of Influenza virus be vaccinated. Those groups include:

For seasonal flu:
People who should get the seasonal vaccine each year are:
1. Children aged 6 months up to their 19th birthday
2. Pregnant women
3. People 50 years of age and older
4. People of any age with certain chronic medical conditions
5. People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities
6. People who live with or care for those at high risk for complications from flu, including:
• Health care workers
• Household contacts of persons at high risk for complications from the flu
• Household contacts and caregivers of children <5 years of age with particular emphasis on vaccinating  contacts of children <6 months of age (these children are at higher risk of flu-related complications

For the H1N1 virus, prioritized groups for vaccination include:
1. People with more severe illness, such as those hospitalized with suspected or confirmed influenza
2. People with suspected or confirmed influenza who are at higher risk for complications
• Children younger than 2 years old
• Adults 65 years and older
• Pregnant women
• People with certain chronic medical or immunosuppressive conditions
3. People younger than 19 years of age who are receiving long-term aspirin therapy

So, remember: When Jack Frost comes nipping at your nose, it’s time to bundle up, keep your hands clean, cover your coughs and get your flu vaccine.

Sources

(2009). Questions and Answers Regarding Estimating Deaths from Seasonal Influenza in the United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/us_flu-related_deaths.htm

(30 October 2009). 2009-2010 Influenza Season Week 42 ending October 24, 2009. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/

(1 October 2009) 2009-10 Influenza (Flu) Season: Questions & Answers about the 2009-2010 Flu Season. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/season/current-season.htm

(16 October 2009) http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/weeklyarchives2009-2010/weekly40.htm

(2009) H1N1 (Swine Flu). Flu.gov. Retrieved from http://flu.gov/individualfamily/about/h1n1/index.html#prevent

(16 October 2009). Key Facts About Seasonal Flu Vaccine. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/FLU/protect/keyfacts.htm

(23 September 2009). Questions & Answers: Antiviral Drugs, 2009-2010 Flu Season. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/antiviral.htm

Ranks on BusinessWeek’s Inner City Top 100 List

Congratulations to our Portland team at Academic Network! We are honored to be named one of the fastest growing inner city companies in the nation for the second consecutive year! Academic Network placed 49th on 11th Annual Top Inner City 100 list sponsored by BusinessWeek and the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC). The ICIC was established to recognize the fastest growing companies in America that are based in the “inner city” and provide new business growth potential to their communities. Innovative practices and sustained growth are the predominant traits of the 2009 Inner City 100 award winners. Through an annual national competition, ICIC ranks the 100 fastest-growing businesses in inner city settings. The 2009 award ceremony was held May 20^th in Boston.

Academic Network’s staff of healthcare professionals include physicians, nurses and dieticians. We believe our growth is based on our ability to quickly staff our contact centers with healthcare professionals, our enhanced adverse events monitoring and the use of social media in patient recruitment. We continue to grow our consumer affairs and patient recruitment business, while providing adverse event reporting during product recalls for the protection of the consumer.

Click here to access the Department of Defense Influenza Watch page and interim guidance documents for clinicians, health care providers and public health emergency officers.

Kudos to SOCAP planners for bringing social media to the forefront of customer care and customer communications! It is time for social media and marketing to cross-over to the customer care world, and SOCAP delivered!  We were able to bring social media and marketing to a whole new level for the food, beverage and pharma industry at SOCAP (#symp09) this week.  Leading a panel this week at SOCAP (#symp09) on using social media for food and drug recalls, we also tweeted panel news from right there on stage.  We’ve been offering the industry social media and communications services for the last year, and industry leaders are beginning to explore the practical uses of social media as it relates to customer care and advocacy.  We are looking forward to many more conversations with our fellow SOCAP members through social media channels in the upcoming year… SOCAP launched a great social media party, and Academic Network was happy to help lead the first dance!

This link explores the development of a social media strategy to address national security.

On April 21, Academic Network, a Stericycle Company, presents Leveraging Social Media in Product Recalls, a panel at the SOCAP International Symposium in Chicago. Top names in the corporate social media movement — Chris Gidez of Hill & Knowlton, Mia Novic of Nielsen Online, and Linnea Johnson of Unilever — join Janet Johnson and Dr. David McCarron of Academic Network for this presentation. Panelists discuss how to use online forums, including blogs, Facebook and Twitter, to gather up-to-the minute consumer information surrounding a product recall (such as the peanut butter recall) and explore innovative strategies to manage timely and effective corporate response. Academic Network is poised at the forefront of this communications revolution, and we look forward to a lively and informed discussion.

The current peanut butter recall has raised red flags to the awareness, usefulness and timeliness of our current adverse event reporting system. Government agencies and private corporations are working together to seek fast reporting of incidents and improve coordination of efforts, however, ask the average consumer if they are aware of online reporting tools for adverse events and you will get the answer “No.”  Better yet, ask them what is an adverse event!

Thus a direct to consumer education program is clearly needed now. A good example of a good online reporting tool but with little awareness of it’s existance is the MedWatch form 3500 (click on the blue button on the right).  The FDA has created a video channel on YouTube and presence on Twitter, but a  targeted campaign effort to educate consumers through all media channels on the availability of this information has been overlooked and not stated properly to the public.

What are we waiting for…..hopefully, not the next big public health issue. Tools are available to monitor some of the chatter but a simplified system for consumers and healthcare workers to know how and where to report might be a simple solution. As we develop our online tools and advance efforts through social media, we must assure that we educate the public too. To report an adverse event online through the FDA here.  Find coverage here on RWW on how social media was effective in the peanut butter recall. And finally, find coverage here to see how the public assumed some major peanut butter brands were part of the recall but did not associate the recall with other products such as ice cream, snack foods, etc.

According to recent surveys by the Pew Internet Trust, 60 - 80 percent of Americans have used the Internet to find health information; and as of January 2008, the Internet rivaled physicians as the leading source for health information. In fact, iCrossing’s “How America Searches: Health and Wellness” January 2008 report states:

Internet is the most widely used resource for health information: 59% of adults use online resources to obtain health and wellness information, versus 55% who go to their doctors and 29% who talk to relatives, friends or co-workers

Yahoo! Health has found that 80 percent of online searchers are looking for themselves, while 20 percent are looking for someone else. For cancer and Alzheimer’s, the proportion of people searching for others is higher. (Source: Jane Sarashon Kahn, The Wisdom of Patients: Health Care Meets Online Social Media)

And consumers aren’t just going one place in their search for health information online, although the vast majority start with a search engine. Once they begin their quest, they’re route takes them through multiple sites (WebMD, Wikipedia, Mayo Clinic), blogs and social networks to gather information. (ibid)

What are they going online? According to JupiterResearch, the top three reasons people congregate online are:

1. To see what other consumers say about a medication or treatment (36%)
2. To research other consumers’ knowledge and experiences (31%)
3. To learn skills or get education to manage a condition (27%)

(Source: JupiterResearch. Online Health: Assessing the Risks and Opportunity of Social and One-to-One Media, 2007)

These are all powerful motivators for consumers… but they also should be powerful motivators for those who provide medication, treatment and education to begin to listen, track and monitor the conversations they’re having…

In an article today in the Boston Globe called “Hurry up, the customer has a complaint”, author Carolyn Johnson cites several examples of consumers complaining quite publicly about products and services in their blogs and other social media options like Twitter.

“We’re in a world where one person, by their actions, can make a
company look bad, and it can get echoed and amplified over and over
again,” said Josh Bernoff, an analyst at Forrester Research
and coauthor of “Groundswell,” a book about business and social
technologies. “The power has shifted, [so] that big companies now have
to be worried about one individual with a microphone called a blog.”

Frankly, I’d call it a megaphone, not a microphone. I’ve personally seen the amazing reach of a “meme” (conversation) that explodes through the blogosphere. And believe me, reach and frequency can be exponential, especially where a little brand controversy is involved.

The article goes on to make great examples of companies like Comcast, Southwest Airlines and Dell; each of whom have people dedicated to monitoring their online reputations for consumer kudos and complaints.

My bottom line on this?

If you do nothing more than listen to the chatter online, you’re doing more to protect your brand, your online reputation, and (likely) your value as a company, than most. Listening is the very first step to success.