Pandemic Preparedness for the Upcoming Flu Season

Swine flu seems to have dropped off the radar lately. After initially panicked reports and concerns, trips to Mexico being cancelled, and loads of misinformation floating around, most folks seem to have settled into a "Well, that wasn't so bad" attitude.



Except for folks who work in health care. Those folks are very concerned about the upcoming fall. That's because H1N1, as swine flu is officially known, has been acting like those flu viruses which in the past have caused some of the worst outbreaks of illness and death. H1N1 has remained active during the summer, months when catching a flu bug is not normally a concern. Thus, health care professionals are particularly leery about this upcoming fall, the normal time for a flu outbreak, when germ spreading is compounded by kids heading back to school.



Part of the reason for the initial flurry of news over this new flu virus is the plan the World Health Organization (WHO) has put into effect for pandemic preparedness. A "pandemic" is defined as a worldwide epidemic of a disease. It refers to the spread of the disease, not its severity. WHO monitors and identifies outbreaks of new diseases, then attempts to isolate them if possible to minimize their impact. However, thanks to our interconnected world of travel, few diseases these days remain limited to an isolated location. There are new forms of influenza viruses every flu season; a pandemic is most likely to occur when a virus shows up against which we have no natural immunity. Such is the case with the swine flu.



So far, there has been no vaccine developed for H1N1, but researchers are focusing lots of their attention on coming up with one. The good news is that already developed antiviral drugs can treat many symptoms of the disease for those who contract it, helping to keep the effects from becoming too severe. The bad news is that many of us may contract it if we're not careful. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has issued pandemic preparedness guidelines to minimize the spread of disease. These guidelines are simple: wash your hands often, cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze or cough, and stay home when you're sick.



Unfortunately, following those simple guidelines will take a fair amount of effort on the part of every individual. If you've ever watched children wash their hands, you know that the two-second swipe under the water (soap optional) isn't enough to get rid of germs. Parents and teachers will have to constantly monitor more thorough cleaning. And how many of us feel we can afford to stay home from work for a full week or more when we-or our children-are under the weather? Yet that's the best way to prevent even more people from getting sick.



We can keep this pandemic from becoming too severe. But it will take individual responsibility to do so.