Flu Pandemics »
Prevention of Flu Pandemics
Pandemic flu occurs when a new strain of influenza
emerges that can be transmitted easily from person to person -- and
for which there is little or no natural immunity. Unlike seasonal flu,
most people have not built up resistance to it. And unlike seasonal
flu, it can kill those who are young and the healthy as well as those
who are frail and sick.
At this moment, there is no pandemic influenza in the world. But if
history is our guide, there is reason to be concerned. In the last century,
the world has been hit by three influenza pandemics -- and viruses from
birds contributed to all of them. The first, which struck in 1918, killed
over half-a-million Americans and more than 20 million people across
the globe. One-third of the U.S. population was infected, and life expectancy
in the country was reduced by 13 years. The 1918 pandemic was followed
by pandemics in 1957 and 1968 which killed tens of thousands of Americans,
and millions across the world.
Contingency planning for an event sometime in the future is often difficult
to justify, particularly in the face of limited resources and more urgent
problems and priorities. However, there are two main reasons to invest
while preparing for the prevention of flu pandemics:
1. Preparation will mitigate the direct medical and economic effects
of a pandemic, by ensuring that adequate measures will be taken and
implemented before the pandemic occurs.
2. Preparing for the next influenza pandemic will provide benefits
now, as improvements in infrastructure can have immediate and lasting
benefits, and can also mitigate the effect of other epidemics or infectious
disease threats.
A major component of pandemic preparedness is to strengthen the capacity
to respond to yearly epidemics of influenza. A surveillance network
for human and animal influenza and a targeted influenza
vaccination program are the cornerstones of a national influenza
policy.
Ensuring an adequate system for alert, response and disaster management,
should be the basis of every national pandemic preparedness plan. Depending
on the available resources, more specific preparations can be made,
such as developing specific contingency plans, stockpiling of antiviral
drugs, strengthening risk communications, investing in pandemic vaccine
research and promoting domestic production of influenza vaccines.
