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Vaccinate — or wear a mask

΢����Ƶ Health System faculty, staff, students, vendors and contractors will be required to get vaccinated against the seasonal flu by Dec. 1 or wear masks covering their mouths and noses while at work or school to prevent the spread of infection.

The new, more stringent policy affects all health system clinics and facilities, including ΢����Ƶ Medical Center and facilities located both on and off the ΢����Ƶ Sacramento campus.

“This could be the worst flu season in modern history,” said Allan Siefkin, chief medical officer of ΢����Ƶ Health System. “Seasonal flu — combined with novel H1N1 — makes the full impact of this particular flu season difficult to anticipate. We are taking every reasonable precaution as early as possible.”

The new policy, along with many other flu-prevention efforts, are intended to keep employees and others healthy, said Siefkin.

Siefkin added that the health system may require protective masks for staff and students who are not vaccinated for H1N1 sooner than Dec. 1, depending on the incidence of H1N1 flu in the region.

Health focus on women

Women have long been underrepresented in the field of medicine. Moreover, women’s unique health issues, as well as gender-specific responses to many diseases, have not always been adequately addressed in education and research.

Toward this, the current issue of the health system’s magazine, ΢����Ƶ Medicine, features several stories on women and health. Topics include:

• tracking women’s health over the course of time;
• women and incontinence;
• heart and vascular disease; and
• health disparities in women.
• The magazine also profiles nurse educator Deborah Ward and the ΢����Ƶ Stem Celll Program.

Read the magazine’s fall 2009 issue at