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Houston companies told to have a flu plan

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by By Kevin Reece / 11 News

Posted on October 20, 2009 at 4:26 PM

Updated Monday, Oct 26 at 5:41 PM

HOUSTON-The CDC on Tuesday announced new, tougher standards to fight swine flu.

Swine flu: Houston companies
Swine flu
Oct. 20, 2009

From now on, doctors are being advised not wait for confirmation of the illness.

They are being told to immediately begin administering anti-viral drugs if they suspect their patient has the illness.

Meanwhile, representatives of two dozen different Houston companies attended a flu summit in Houston.

The goal was to tell employers that the flu isn't just bad for your health; it's also bad for business too.

Employers were advised to make sure they had flu plans in place.

They were told to cross train employees in case "key" employees are the ones out sick, and they were told to be flexible with sick leave and time-off so that a flu pandemic doesn't lead to even more unemployment.

"If they can't maintain the work pace and you need to hire someone else that's the way it goes," said Dr. Carl Hacker with UT Bio-security and Public Health Preparedness. "It's sad, but it's true in Texas we are an "at-will" state."

At the non-profit organization, Neighborhood Centers, they know a great deal about the swine flu. Their HR director was supposed to be at Tuesday's swine flu conference, but he could not attend because he has swine flu.

With that exception, Neighborhood Centers says its flu plan is working.

Plans the experts say every business should have in place so the economy keeps working too.

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