Spreading the Facts About H1N1

I've been directly involved in quite a bit of public outreach over the past few weeks concerning the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, vaccination, and prevention. One of the biggest challenges is to address and clarify some of the important misconceptions about the virus and it's prevention and treatment, to avoid unnecessary illness and loss of life. While reaching out through traditional news media means is critical, as my friend Joe recently pointed out on Twitter, more needs to be done.

To this end, several creative ways to spread the facts about H1N1 have surfaced of late:

• We at Lifebridge Health will be holding a Tweet-up for influenza prevention on Thursday evening from 5-7pm at Little Havana. Not only will this be an excellent opportunity to interact with myself and other Lifebridge experts in a casual setting, but it will also afford an unhurried opportunity to discuss any influenza-related questions. Go here to get the details, and please stop by if you can - it should be quite the fun time!

• John D. Clarke, MD, a physician in New York, has created an H1N1 informational rap video as a part of his educational efforts.

• Adam and Jamie of Mythbusters fame have put together a video PSA to help promote H1N1 awareness. As a companion piece, the Discovery channel has posted a page addressing 5 myths about H1N1 influenza.