Pandemic Influenza
Pandemic flu has been rated by the Local Resilience Forum as the top threat facing Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. A copy of the risk register can be found by going to Hampshire County Council's Emergency Planning website.
What is pandemic flu?
A flu pandemic occurs when a new influenza virus emerges against which people have little or no immunity, and for which there is no vaccine. The disease spreads rapidly from person to person, causing serious illness and can travel around the world in a very short time.
What is the difference between winter flu, avian flu and pandemic?
There are distinct differences between seasonal flu, avian flu and pandemic flu. Avian flu is a disease which mainly affects birds and is caused by the H5N1 virus. Although the disease can be passed to humans it is extremely difficult and people in close contact with poultry.
Winter flu are the viruses that circulate each winter in the human population and causing widespread illness. A pandemic flu occurs more infrequently, when a new influenza virus emerges which is noticeably different from those previously circulating, it causes disease in people and spreads easily between people because they have little or no immunity to it. It is thought that this will happen through an avian flu virus (such as H5N1) mutating into a different strain that is more easily transmissible.
When and how will it arrive in the UK?
The experts are unsure on when a pandemic will arrive as it can’t be predicted. The intervals between previous pandemics have varied widely. Three pandemics occurred in the last century – 1918/19 (Spanish flu), 1957/58 (Asian flu) and 1968/69 (Hong Kong flu). All of these affected large numbers of the population, causing many deaths and huge economic and social disruption.
Once the virus emerges it will probably take less than six months to arrive in the UK, possibly just a few weeks. The increasing speed and volume of modern travel means infectious diseases can travel very rapidly around the globe.
Can a pandemic be prevented at this stage?
Influenza is highly infectious so despite the best efforts of the International community when the virus emerges it is likely to continue to spread.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has purchased a stockpile of antivirals which can be transported to the source of the outbreak. It is hoped that these antivirals may help to contain the emerging virus. The manufacturer of Tamiflu are also donating five million antivirals for this purpose.
Business Continuity in a pandemic
The impact of a pandemic for businesses has potential to be severe, especially if the virus targets the working population. The government have created a number of documents designed to assist businesses to prepare for this scenario.
Pandemic Checklist for Businesses
Continuity Central
Online surveys
Pandemic advice to staff
Department of Health
World Health Organisation
Pandemic flu.gov