Published: September 14, 2009 09:36 pm      

Prisons chief concerned about swine flu

CHARLESTON — No one has been stricken yet, but Corrections Commissioner Jim Rubenstein says the prospect of a swine flu outbreak behind prison walls is a concern in West Virginia.

Monday, Rubenstein advised the Legislative Oversight Committee on Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority what steps he is taking regarding the swine flu that is sweeping the nation.

“We do have plans in place,” Rubenstein assured the panel.

That means the Division of Corrections is working with the director of security and its medical provider to see what measures need to be taken in the event the disease takes root in a prison.

Whether this will entail vaccinations for inmates and staff members alike hasn’t been decided, Rubenstein said, since he isn’t sure whether they will even be available.

For now, he said, the DOC is taking ordinary safeguards of hygiene, “as far as the universal precautions to take with washing hands and those kinds of things.”

“We’re working with the state health department as far as to see where we stand in line as far as vaccinations for inmates as well as vaccinations for staff,” he told the legislators.

Rubenstein said there have been no confirmed cases of swine flu at any of West Virginia’s correctional facilities.

But the director said his agency is closely following national trends and staying in touch with county health boards where prisons are located to see if the ailment poses a threat.

“Absolutely, it’s a concern,” Rubenstein said.

“That’s why we’ve got plans in place to certainly take care of those situations. We’re looking at the vaccinations.”

So far, no word has come from the state health department on the number of vaccines that might be available to the DOC, he emphasized.

“We’re looking through our medical provider also to see what might be offered at the facility level and the office level as well,” Rubenstein said.

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com