Gov. Joe Manchin traveled to Beckley Monday to discuss the H1N1 influenza virus with students at Shady Spring Middle School.

Manchin’s visit came fresh off the heels of President Barack Obama, who proclaimed a national emergency, due to the H1N1 flu, last week.

“This has been identified as a pandemic,” Manchin told local officials, prior to addressing the middle school students.

“The president has identified it as a national emergency, which raises our alertness and awareness. What we’re trying to do is make sure we have uniform communication and information,” Manchin said.

Last week, Obama said, “the rates of illness continues to rise rapidly within many communities across the nation, and the potential exists for the pandemic to overburden health care resources in some localities.”

“In all of your professional career, do you ever remember where the federal government took total charge of manufacturing, distributing, and getting it (a vaccine) out?” Manchin asked the group of local officials, which included Raleigh County Schools Superintendent Dr. Charlotte Hutchens, Director of Secondary Education Nelson Spencer and Beckley-Raleigh County Health Department Director of Nursing Candance Hurd, among others.

“It’s never happened. That tells you the importance,” he added.

The governor referenced the 1918 influenza epidemic and commented on how far the country has progressed.

“You look at now, with technology... I don’t think in history we’ve ever been able to identify and produce a vaccine as quickly as they have. They decided, as it came available, they would put it out there and start with your most high classes of vulnerability first.”

In his oration, Manchin told the students his visit was important so the kids would “understand how serious and how concerned we are, and how much you can do to protect yourself.”

“How many of you have heard of the H1N1?” Manchin asked the kids.

Almost every child in the room raised a hand or yelled out a response.

“Now, we understand that it’s a major problem all through our state,” Manchin said.

“I don’t want you to be scared. We’ve had different symptoms of flu. This is a little different than we’ve had before. The most vulnerable people, and who we’re concerned about the most, is you.

“Usually when a flu or an epidemic hits, it’s usually my age, the older people, that they’re concerned about,” Manchin told the middle school students.

“In this case, probably in my lifetime, I’ve been exposed to something like this and maybe I have a little bit more immunity against it. You, more than likely, have not... That’s why we’re concerned.”

Manchin told the kids to cover up when coughing or sneezing, and to wash their hands as frequently as possible.

“You’ve got to keep the germs from spreading the best that you possibly can. If you’re feeling bad and you feel like you’re getting the flu, you need to stay home and your parents or guardian will get you the proper care and make a decision from there what type of care you need.”

Manchin supplied the school with a handout for each student to take home to parents.

“I want each one of you to take this home with you. It tells you all the symptoms, all the things you should and can do, and all the help you can receive and where to get it from,” he said.

“You are important. You have a chance to be the best of any generation that has ever come through West Virginia through our school system.”

Manchin spoke to Kanawha County students Monday morning. From Beckley, he planned to visit students in Webster County.

“We’re trying to get as many (schools) as we can,” Manchin said. Health department officials around the state are also working with government officials to get information out about the H1N1 flu.

“This is very, very important. We’re concerned,” Manchin told members of the media. “I don’t want you to think, ‘Well that’s just far off places I saw on television or read about in the newspaper and I don’t really know that one person last night that might have been in a different county.’

“This is serious. It’s in all of our counties and can get to that serious level if we don’t understand how to take care of ourselves and get proper advice.”

Manchin said government officials have been planning for this type of pandemic since he took office in 2005.

“We’ve been planning for the pandemic knowing there are strains out there that could cause what we have today,” he said.

The governor and first lady Gayle Manchin have not received the H1N1 vaccine yet.

“I think we’ll probably be the last to receive them because we’re not in the high-risk category.”

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In a handout sent home Monday to parents with children in state public schools, West Virginia’s Health Officer Dr. Cathy Slemp, who’s overseeing the state’s response to the 2009 H1N1 outbreak, said H1N1 is now widespread across West Virginia and in most communities.

“It’s important to remember that the vast majority of children with H1N1 disease have a few days of illness and recover without complication. Flu can be serious... and it’s important to link children at increased risk of complications or very sick children to appropriate care,” Slemp said.

Slemp reminded parents that getting children vaccinated against H1N1 is important.

“While supply at present is less than we’d all like, it will increase in time.”

For more information, visit www.wvflu.org or www.cdc.gov/h1n1.

— E-mail: jayres@register-herald.com